IPG: 1

GENERAL PHILOSOPHY
Judges are neutral arbiters and enforcers of policy and rules. A judge shouldn’t intervene in a game unless he or she believes a rules violation has occurred, a player with a concern or question requests assistance, or the judge wishes to prevent a situation from escalating. Judges don’t stop play errors from occurring, but insteaddeal with errors that have occurred, penalize those who violate rules or policy, and promote fair play and sporting conduct by example and diplomacy. Judges may intervene to prevent or preempt errors occurring outside of a game. Knowledge of a player’s history or skill does not alter an infraction, but it may be taken into account during an investigation.
The purpose of a penalty is to educate the player not to make similar mistakes in the future. This is done through both an explanation of where the rules or policies were violated and a penalty to reinforce the education. Penalties are also for the deterrence and education of every other player in the event and are also used to track player behavior over time.
If a minor violation is quickly handled by the players to their mutual satisfaction, a judge does not need to intervene. If the players are playing in a way that is clear to both players, but might cause confusion to an external observer, judges are encouraged to request that the players make the situation clear, but not assess an infraction or issue any penalty. In both these situations, the judge should ensure that the game progresses normally. More significant violations are addressed by first identifying what infraction applies, then proceeding with the corresponding instructions.
Only the Head Judge is authorized to issue penalties that deviate from these guidelines. The Head Judge may not deviate from this guide’s procedures except in significant and exceptional circumstances or a situation that has no applicable philosophy for guidance. Significant and exceptional circumstances are rare—a table collapses, a booster contains cards from a different set, etc. The Rules Enforcement Level, round of the tournament, age or experience-level of the player, desire to educate the player, and certification level of the judge are NOT exceptional circumstances. If another judge feels deviation is appropriate, he or she must consult with the Head Judge.
Judges are human and make mistakes. When a judge makes a mistake, he or she should acknowledge the mistake, apologize to the players, and fix it if it is not too late. If a member of the tournament staff gives a player erroneous information that causes them to commit a violation, the Head Judge is authorized to downgrade the penalty. For example, a player asks a judge whether a card is legal for a format and is told yes. When that player’s deck is found to be illegal because of these cards, the Head Judge applies the normal procedure for fixing the decklist, but may downgrade the penalty to a Warning because of the direct error of the judge.

IPG: 1.1

DEFINITION OF PENALTIES

Warning
A Warning is an officially tracked penalty. Warnings are used in situations of incorrect play when a small amount of time is needed to implement the corrective procedure. The purpose of a Warning is to alert judges and players involved that a problem has occurred and to keep a permanent record of the infraction in the DCI Penalty Database. A time extension should be issued if the ruling has taken more than a minute.

Game Loss
A Game Loss is issued in situations where the procedure to correct the offense takes a significant amount of time that may slow the entire tournament or causes significant disruption to the tournament, or in which it is impossible to continue the game due to physical disruption. It is also used for some infractions that have a higher probability for a player to gain advantage.
A Game Loss ends the current game immediately and the player who committed the infraction is considered to have lost the game for the purpose of match reporting. The player receiving a Game Loss chooses whether to play or draw in the next game of that match, if applicable. If a Game Loss is issued before the match begins, neither player in that match may use sideboards (if the tournament uses them) for the first game they play.
Game Losses are applied to the game in which the offense occurred unless the players have begun a new game or the tournament is between rounds, in which case the loss is applied to the player’s next game. If simultaneous Game Loss penalties are issued to each player, they are recorded, but do not affect the match score. If a player receives a Game Loss at the same time his or her opponent receives a Match Loss, the Game Loss is carried over into the next round. Players will still receive a Game Loss if they drop from the tournament; if the penalty is issued between rounds, they will still receive it even though they will not be paired for the next round.
Match Loss
A Match Loss is a severe penalty that is usually issued when the match cannot be completed due to timing restrictions or because the match itself has been compromised.
Match Losses are applied to the matchduring which the offense occurred unless the match has already ended, in which case the penalty will be applied to the player’s next match. Players will still be issued a Match Loss penalty if they drop from the tournament, though they won’t be paired for the next round.
Disqualification
A Disqualification is issued for activity that damages the integrity of a tournament as a whole or for severe unsporting conduct.
The recipient of a Disqualification does not need to be a player in the tournament. He or she may be a spectator or other bystander. If this happens, he or she must be entered into the tournament in Wizards Event Reporter (“WER”) so that he or she may be disqualified and reported to the DCI.
Disqualification can occur without proof of action so long as the Head Judge determines sufficient information exists to believe the tournament’s integrity may have been compromised. It is recommended that the Head Judge’s report reflect this fact.
When this penalty is applied, the player loses his or her current match and is dropped from the tournament. If a player has already received prizes at the time he or she is disqualified, that player may keep those prizes but does not receive any additional prizes or awards he or she may be due.

When a player is disqualified during a tournament, he or she is removed from the tournament and does not take up a place in the standings. This means that all players in the tournament will advance one spot in the standings and are entitled to any prizes the new standing would offer. If the Disqualification takes place after a cut is made, no additional players advance in place of the disqualified player although they do move up a spot in the standings. For example, if a player is disqualified during the quarterfinal round of a Preliminary Pro Tour Qualifier, the former 9th place finisher does not advance into the single elimination top 8, but he or she does move into 8th place in the standings.
More information about the Disqualification process may be found at http://blogs.magicjudges.org/o/disqualification-process/.

IPG: 1.2

APPLYING PENALTIES
Penalties are included with the tournament report so that a permanent record can be kept in the DCI Penalty Database. Additionally, any penalty of Game Loss or higher should be reported to the Head Judge, and it is recommended that only the Head Judge issue penalties of this nature (with the exception of Tardiness (3.1) and Deck Errors (3.5)).
Being enrolled in the tournament is not a requirement to receive a penalty. Although these guidelines refer to players, other people in the venue, such as spectators, staff, or judges may be enrolled into (and dropped from) the tournament in order to receive a penalty.
Any time a penalty is issued, the judge must explain the infraction, the procedure for fixing the situation, and the penalty to all players involved. If the Head Judge chooses to deviate from the Infraction Procedure Guide, the Head Judge is expected to explain the standard penalty and the reason for deviation.
Some infractions include remedies to handle the offense beyond the base penalty. These procedures exist to protect officials from accusations of unfairness, bias, or favoritism. If a judge makes a ruling that is consistent with quoted text, then the complaints of a player shift from accusation of unfairness by the judge to accusations of unfair policy. Deviations from these procedures may raise accusations against the judge from the player(s) involved, or from those who hear about it. These procedures do not, and should not, take into account the game being played, the current situation that the game is in, or who will benefit strategically from the procedure associated with a penalty. While it is tempting to try to “fix” game situations, the danger of missing a subtle detail or showing favoritism to a player (even unintentionally) makes it a bad idea.
Infractions with the same root cause, or multiple instances of the same infraction that are discovered at the same time, are treated as a single infraction.

IPG: 1.3

RANDOMIZING A DECK
The remedy for some infractions in this document includes shuffling the randomized portion of the deck. This requires first determining whether any portion of the deck is non-random, such as cards that have been manipulated on the top or bottom of the library, and separating those. Check with both players to verify this, and check the graveyard, exile, and battlefield for deck manipulation cards, such as Brainstorm and cards with the scry mechanic. Once the deck has been shuffled, any manipulated cards are returned to their correct locations.
Shuffles perfomed by a judge as part of a remedy are not considered shuffles for game purposes.

IPG: 1.4

BACKING UP
Some infractions in this document permit the judge to consider the possibility of a backup. Due to the amount of information that may become available to players and might affect their play, backups are regarded as a solution of last resort, only applied in situations where leaving the game in the current state is a substantially worse solution. A good backup will result in a situation where the gained information makes no difference and the line of play remains the same (excepting the error, which has been fixed). This means limiting backups to situations with minimal decision trees.
Only the Head Judge may authorize a backup. At large tournaments, they may choose to delegate this responsibility to Team Leaders.
To perform a backup, each individual action since the point of the error is reversed, starting with the most recent ones and working backwards. Every action must be reversed; no parts of the sequence should be omitted or reordered. If the identity of a card involved in reversing an action is unknown to one of the players (usually because it was drawn), a random card is chosen from the possible candidates. Shuffles are reversed by a single shuffle of the random portion of the library after the rest of the backup is complete. A card that became legally known to a player after the error was committed is not considered random and is returned to the appropriate location after the shuffle has been completed.
Backups involving random/unknown elements should be approached with extreme caution, especially if they cause or threaten to cause a situation in which a player will end up with different cards than they would once they have correctly drawn those cards. For example, returning cards to the library when a player has the ability to shuffle their library is not something that should be done except in extreme situations.
Some remedies state a simple backup may be performed. A simple backup is backing up the last action completed (or one currently in progress) and is sometimes used to make another portion of the prescribed remedy smoother. A simple backup should not involve any random elements.

IPG: 2

GAME PLAY ERRORS
Game Play Errors are caused by incorrect or inaccurate play of the game such that it results in violations of the Magic Comprehensive Rules. Many offenses fit into this category and it would be impossible to list them all. The guide below is designed to give judges a framework for assessing how to handle a Game Play Error.
Most Game Play Error infractions are assumed to have been committed unintentionally. If the judge believes that the error was intentional, he or she should first consider whether an Unsporting Conduct — Cheating infraction has occurred.
With the exception of Failure to Maintain Game State, which is never upgraded, the third or subsequent penalty for a Game Play Error offense in the same category is upgraded to a Game Loss. For multi-day events, the penalty count for these infractions resets between days.

IPG: 2.2

Definition
A player looks at a card they were not entitled to see. Players are considered to have looked at a card when they have been able to observe the face of a hidden card, or when a card is moved any significant amount from a deck, but before it touches cards in another set. A set is a physically distinct group defined by a game rule or effect. It may correspond to a specific zone, or may only represent a part of a zone. This includes errors of dexterity or catching a play error before the card is placed into his or her hand. Once a card has been placed into his or her hand, the offense is no longer Looking at Extra Cards.
A player is not considered to have looked at extra cards when he or she places a cardface down on the table (without looking at the card) in an effort to count out cards.
This penalty is applied only once if one or more cards are seen in the same action or sequence of actions.
Examples
A. A player accidentally reveals (drops, flips over) a card while shuffling her opponent’s deck.
B. A player pulls up an extra card while drawing from his deck.
C. A player sees the bottom card of her deck when presenting it to her opponent for cutting/shuffling.
Philosophy
A player can accidentally look at extra cards easily and this infraction handles situations where a dexterity or rules error has led to a player seeing cards they shouldn’t have. Once those cards have joined another set, the infraction is handled as a Hidden Card Error or Game Rule Violation.
Players should not use this penalty to get a “free shuffle” or to attempt to shuffle away cards they don’t want to draw; doing so may be Unsporting Conduct — Cheating. Players also are not allowed to use this penalty as a stalling mechanism. The deck is already randomized, so shuffling in the revealed cards should not involve excessive effort.
Additional Remedy
Shuffle any previously unknown cards into the random portion of the deck, then put any known cards back in their correct locations.

IPG: 2.3

Definition
A player commits an error in the game that cannot be corrected by only publicly available information and does so without his or her opponent’s permission.
This infraction only applies when a card whose identity is known to only one player is in a hidden set of cards both before and after the error. A set is a physically distinct group defined by a game rule or effect. It may correspond to a specific zone, or may only represent a part of a zone.
This infraction does not apply to simple dexterity errors, such as when a card being pulled off the library sticks to another card and is seen or knocked off the library. The cards themselves must be part of a distinct set.
Examples
A. A player draws four cards after casting Ancestral Recall.
B. A player scries two cards when he should only have scried one.
C. A player resolves a Dark Confidant trigger, but forgets to reveal the card before putting it
into her hand.
D. A player has more cards in his hand than can be accounted for.
E. A player casts Anticipate and picks up the top four cards of her library.
F. A player, going first, draws for his turn.
Philosophy
Though the game state cannot be reversed to the ‘correct’ state, this error can be mitigated by giving the opponent sufficient knowledge and ability to offset the error so that it is less likely to generate advantage.
If cards are placed into a public zone, then their order is known and the infraction can be handled as a Game Rule Violation. Order cannot be determined from card faces only visible to one playerunless the card is in a uniquely identifiable position (such as on top of the library, or as the only card in hand.)
Be careful not to apply this infraction in situations where a publicly-correctable error subsequently leads to an uncorrectable situation such as a Brainstorm cast using green mana. In these situations, the infraction is based on that root cause.
Information about cards previously known by the opponent, such as cards previously revealed while on the top of the deck or by a previous look at the hand, may be taken into account while determining the set of cards to which the remedy applies.
Always operate on the smallest set possible to remedy the error. This may mean applying the remedy to only part of a set defined by an instruction. For example, if a player resolves Collected Company, picks up three cards with one hand and then four cards with the other, the card causing the infraction is part of the set of four cards and should be removed from there.
Additional Remedy
In cases where the infraction was immediately followed by moving a card from the affected set to a known location, such as by discarding, putting cards on top of the library, or playing a land, a simple backup to the point just after the error may be performed.
If the set of cards that contained the problem no longer exists, there is no remedy to be applied.
If the error put cards into a set prematurely and other operations involving cards in the set should have been performed first, the player reveals the set of cards that contains the excess and his or her opponent chooses a number of previously-unknown cards. Put those cards aside until the point at which they should have been legally added, then return them to the set.
If the set contains more cards than it is supposed to contain, the player reveals the set of cards that contains the excess and his or her opponent chooses a number of previously-unknown cards sufficient to reduce the set to the correct size. The cards chosen are treated as excess cards (see below.)
If the error involves one or more cards that were supposed to be revealed, the player reveals the set of cards that contains the unrevealed cards and his or her opponent chooses that many previously-unknown cards. Treat those as the unrevealed cards for any required actions. If the cards chosen would not legally be in the set as a result, they are treated as excess cards.
Excess cards are returned to the correct location. If that location is the library, they should be shuffled into the random portion. The player does not repeat the instruction or partial instruction (if any) that caused the infraction.
Upgrade: If a face-down cardcast using a morphability is discovered during the game to not have a morphability, the penalty is a Game Loss. If the player has one or more cards with a morphability in hand, has not added cards to his or her hand since casting the card found in violation, and has discovered the error themselves, the upgrade does not apply and they may swap the card for a card with the morphability in hand.

IPG: 2.4

Definition
A player makes an error during the mulligan process. This infraction does not apply to errors made once pre-game procedures are complete. “Scrying” for more than one card after taking a mulligan is treated as a Hidden Card Error.
Trivial process errors that provide no advantage, such as declaring an intent to mulligan early, are not an infraction.
Examples
A. A player draws eight cards at the start of the game (instead of seven).
B. A player draws seven cards at the start of the game (instead of six) after taking a
mulligan.
C. A player keeps her hand, scries, then mulligans again.
D. A player chooses to not take a mulligan then takes a mulligan after seeing his opponent choose to take a mulligan.
Philosophy
Errors prior to the beginning of the game have a less disruptive option—a forced mulligan—that is not available at any other point during the game. However, players should not be incentivized to sit on the infraction until mulligan procedures are completed so that they can ‘discover’ the error at a point where it becomes a Hidden Card Error if they believe that is to their advantage. To encourage the offending player to report their error as early as possible, they are given their choice of remedy before the game begins.
If a player looks at the top card of his or her library after taking a mulligan, it is assumed that they have chosen to keep their handunless they make it very clear that they intend to mulligan again, either verbally before looking or by picking up multiple cards from the top of their deck.
Additional Remedy
If the player has too many cards in hand, he or she may choose to reveal his or her hand, and his or her opponent chooses a card from it to be shuffled back into the library. If more than one excess card was drawn (for example, eight cards drawn during a mulligan to 6) his or her opponent continues removing cards until the correct number has been reached.
If cards are not removed from the hand this way (either due to an error that didn't lead to too many cards, or by the player choosing not to reveal), that player takes an additional mulligan.
Players may continue taking mulligans after the remedy has been completed.

IPG: 2.5

Definition
This infraction covers the majority of game situations in which a player makes an error or fails to follow a game procedure correctly. It handles violations of the Comprehensive Rules that are not covered by the other Game Play Errors.
Examples
A. A player casts Wrath of God for 3W (actual cost 2WW).
B. A player does not attack with a creature that must attack each turn.
C. A player fails to put a creature with lethal damage into a graveyard and it is not noticed
until several turns later.
D. A Phyrexian Revoker is on the battlefield that should have had a card named for it.
E. A player casts Brainstorm and forgets to put two cards back on top of his library.
Philosophy
While Game Rule Violations can be attributed to one player, they usually occur publicly and both players are expected to be mindful of what is happening in the game. It is tempting to try and “fix” these errors, but it is important that they be handled consistently, regardless of their impact on the game.
Additional Remedy
If the infraction falls into one of the following categories, and only into that category, perform the fix specified unless a simple backup is possible:
• If a player made an illegal choice (including no choice where required) for a static ability generating a continuous effect still on the battlefield, that player makes a legal choice. A simple backup to clear problems generated by the illegal choice may be considered.
• If a player forgot to drawcards, discardcards, or return cards from their hand to another zone, that player does so.
• If an object is in an incorrect zone either due to a required zone change being missed or due to being put into the wrong zoneduring a zone change, the identity of the object was known to all players, and it can be moved with only minor disruption to the state of the game, put the object in the correct zone.
• If damage assignment order has not been declared, the appropriate player chooses that order.
Otherwise, a backup may be considered or the game state may be left as is.
For most Game Play Errors not caught within a time that a player could reasonably be expected to notice, opponents receive a Game Play Error — Failure to Maintain Game State penalty. If the judge believes that both players were responsible for a Game Rule Violation, such as due to the existence of replacement effects or a player taking action based on another players instruction, both players receive a Game Play Error — Game Rule Violation. For example, if a player casts Path to Exile on an opponent’s creature and the opponent puts the creature into the graveyard, both players have committed this infraction.

IPG: 2.6

Definition
A player allows another player in the game to commit a Game Play Error and does not point it out immediately. If a judge believes a player is intentionally not pointing out other players’ illegal actions, either for his or her own advantage, or in the hope of bringing it up at a more strategically advantageous time, they should consider an Unsporting Conduct — Cheating infraction. Not reminding an opponent about his or her triggered abilities is never Failure to Maintain Game State nor Cheating.
Examples
A. A player’s opponent forgets to reveal the card searched for by Worldly Tutor. It is not noticed until the end of turn.
B. A player does not notice that his opponent has Armadillo Cloak on a creature with protection from green.
Philosophy
If an error is caught before a player could gain advantage, then the dangers of the ongoing game state becoming corrupted are much lower. If the error is allowed to persist, at least some of the fault lies with the opponent, who has also failed to notice the error.

IPG: 3

TOURNAMENT ERRORS
Tournament errors are violations of the Magic Tournament Rules. If the judge believes that the error was intentional, he or she should consider Unsporting Conduct — Cheating. (Previous versions of the MIPG made reference in each section about how to handle an intentional violation; with the exception of Slow Play, all intentional violations are now evaluated as potential Unsporting Conduct — Cheating.)
If a player violates the Magic Tournament Rules in a way that is not covered by one of the infractions listed below, the judge should explain the appropriate procedure to the player, but not issue a penalty. Continued or willful disregard of these rules may require further investigation.
A second or subsequent Warning for a Tournament Error offense in the same category is upgraded to a Game Loss. For multi-day events, the penalty count for these infractions resets between days.

IPG: 3.1

Definition
A player is not in his or her seat at the beginning of a round, or has not completed tasks assigned within the time allocated. If a round begins before the previous round would have ended (due to all players finishing early), tardiness does not apply until the scheduled end of the previous round.
If, before or during a match, a player requests permission from a judge for a delay for a legitimate task, such as a bathroom break or finding replacements for missing cards, that player may have up to 10 minutes to perform that task before he or she is considered tardy. If the player takes more than 10 minutes, a Match Loss will be applied. Otherwise, no penalty will be applied and a time extension given for the time taken.
Examples
A. A player arrives to her seat 5 minutes after the round begins.
B. A player hands in his decklist after the time designated by the judge or organizer.
C. A player loses his or her deck and cannot find replacement cards within the first 10
minutes of the round.
D. A player sits at an incorrect table and plays the wrong opponent.
Philosophy
Players are responsible for being on time and in the correct seat for their matches, and for completing registrations in a timely manner. The Tournament Organizer may announce that they are giving the players some additional time before a penalty is issued. Otherwise, the penalty is issued as soon as the round begins.
Additional Remedy
The players are given a time extension corresponding to the length of the tardiness.
Upgrade: A player not in his or her seat 10 minutes into the round will receive a Match Loss and will be dropped from the tournamentunless he or she reports to the Head Judge or Scorekeeper before the end of the round.

IPG: 3.2

Definition
A player, spectator, or other tournament participant does any of the following:
• Seeks play advice or hidden information about his or her match from others once he or she has sat for his or her match.
• Gives play advice or reveals hidden information to players who have sat for their match.
• During a game, refers to notes (other than OracleTM pages) made before the official
beginning of the current match.
These criteria also apply to any deck construction and draft portions of a limitedtournament. Additionally, no notes of any kind may be made during a draft. Some team formats have additional communication rules that may modify the definition of this infraction.
Notes made outside the current match may only be referenced between games, and must have been in the player’s possession since the beginning of the match.
Examples
A. During a game, a player references play notes that were created before the tournament.
B. A spectator points out the correct play to a player who had not solicited the information.
Philosophy
Tournaments test the skill of a player, not his or her ability to follow external advice or directions. Any strategy advice, play advice, or construction advice from an external source is considered outside assistance.
Visual modifications to cards, including brief text, that provide minor strategic information or hints are acceptable and not considered notes. Detailed instructions or complex strategic advice may not be written on cards. The Head Judge is the final arbiter on what cards and notes are acceptable for a tournament. Spectators who commit this infraction may be asked to leave the venue if they are not enrolled in the tournament.

IPG: 3.3

Definition
A player takes longer than is reasonably required to complete game actions. If a judge believes a player is intentionally playing slowly to take advantage of a time limit, the infraction is Unsporting Conduct — Stalling.
It is also slow play if a player continues to execute a loop without being able to provide an exact number of iterations and the expected resulting game state.
Examples
A. A player repeatedly reviews his opponent’s graveyard without any significant change in game state.
B. A player spends time writing down the contents of an opponent’s deck while resolving Thought Hemorrhage.
C. A player takes an excessive amount of time to shuffle his deck between games.
D. A player gets up from his seat to look at standings or goes to the bathroom without
permission of an official.
Philosophy
All players have the responsibility to play quickly enough so that their opponents are not at a significant disadvantage because of the time limit. A player may be playing slowly without realizing it. A comment of “I need you to play faster” is often appropriate and all that is needed. Further slow play should be penalized.
Additional Remedy
An additional turn is awarded for each player, to be applied if the match exceeds the time limit. This turn extension occurs before any end-of-match procedure can begin and after any time extensions that may have been issued.
No additional turns are awarded if the match is already in additional turns, though the Warning still applies.

IPG: 3.4

Definition
A player unintentionally fails to sufficiently shuffle his or her deck or portion of his or her deck before presenting it to his or her opponent or fails to present it to his or her opponent for further randomization. A deck is not shuffled if the judge believes a player could know the position or distribution of one or more cards in his or her deck.
Examples
A. A player forgets to shuffle his library after searching for a card.
B. A player searches for a card, then gives the deck a single riffle-shuffle before presenting
the deck to her opponent.
C. A player fails to shuffle the portion of his deck revealed during the resolution of a
cascadeability.
Philosophy
Players are expected to shuffle their deck thoroughly when it is required and are expected to have the skill and understanding of randomization to do so. However, as the opponent has the opportunity to shuffle after the player does, the potential for advantage is lowered if tournament policy is followed.
Any time cards in a deck could be seen, including during shuffling, it is no longer shuffled, even if the player only knows the position of one or two cards. Players are expected to take care in shuffling not to revealcards to themselves, their teammates, or their opponents.
A player should shuffle his or her deck using multiple methods. Patterned pile-shuffling alone is not sufficient. Any manipulation, weaving, or stacking prior to randomization is acceptable, as long as the deck is thoroughly shuffled afterwards.
Additional Remedy
Shuffle the random portion of the deck thoroughly.

IPG: 3.5

Definition
A player commits one or more of the following errors involving his or her deck, decklist, or sideboard:
• The deck, decklist, or sideboard contains an illegal number of cards for the format.
• The deck, decklist, or sideboard contains one or more cards that are illegal for the format.
• A card listed on a decklist is not identified by its full name and could be interpreted as
one of multiple cards. Truncated names of storyline characters (legendarypermanents and planeswalkers) are acceptable as long as they are the only representation of that character in the format and are treated as referring to that card, even if other cards begin with the same name.
• The contents of the presented deck and sideboard do not match the decklist registered. This infraction does not cover errors in registration made by another participant prior to a sealed
pool swap, which should be corrected at the discretion of the judge.
Cards in different sleeves, tokens, and double-faced cards for which checklists are being used are ignored when determining deck legality.
If there are extra cards stored with the sideboard that could conceivably be played in the player’s deck, they will be considered a part of the sideboardunless they are:
• Promotional cards that have been handed out as part of the tournament.
• Double-faced cards represented by checklist cards in the deck.
• Double-faced cards being used to represent the ‘night’ side of cards in the deck. These
cards must not be sleeved in the same way as cards in the main deck and/or sideboard.
If sideboardcards are missing, make a note of this, but issue no penalty.
Examples
A. A player has 59 cards in her deck, but 60 listed on the decklist.
B. A player in a Legacy tournament lists Mana Drain (a banned card) on his decklist.
C. A player has a 56-card decklist. His actual deck contains 60 cards, with four Dispels not listed.
D. A player has a Pacifism in his deck from a previous opponent.
E. A player lists ‘Sarkhan’ in a format with both Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker and Sarkhan Unbroken.
Philosophy
Decklists are used to ensure that decks are not altered in the course of a tournament. Judges and other tournament officials should be vigilant about reminding players before the tournament begins of the importance of submitting a legal decklist, and playing with a legal deck. A player normally receives a Game Loss if his or her decklist is altered after tournamentplay has begun.
Penalties for decklist errors discovered during a deckcheck and deck/sideboard errors are issued immediately. Other decklist penalties are issued at the start of the next round to minimize the disruption to the match currently being played and provide consistency in case some players have finished playing their match before the penalty can be administered.
Ambiguous or unclear names on a decklist may allow a player to manipulate the contents of his or her deck up until the point at which they are discovered. The Head Judge may choose to not issue this penalty if they believe that what the player wrote on their decklist is obvious and unambiguous, even if it is not the full, accurate name of the card. In Limited events, the Head Judge may choose not to issue this penalty for incorrectly marked basicland counts if they believe the correct land count is obvious. This should be determined solely by what is written on the decklist, and not based on intent or the actual contents of the deck; needing to check the deck for confirmation is a sign that the entry is not obvious.
Additional Remedy
Remove any cards from the deck and sideboard that are illegal for the format or violate the maximum number allowed, fix any failures to de-sideboard, restore any missing cards if they (or identical replacements) can be located, then alter the decklist to reflect the remaining deck. If the remaining deck has too few cards, add basiclands of the player’s choice to reach the minimum number; this change may be reverted at a later point if replacements for lost cards are found. If the deck/sideboard and decklist both violate a maximum cardsrestriction (usually too many cards in a sideboard or more than four of a card), remove cards starting from the bottom of the appropriate section of the list.
Downgrade: If a deck is discovered to be missing cards after initial presentation and shuffling, and the missing cards can be located, the Head Judge may downgrade the penalty to a Warning and shuffle those cards back into the deck. If the missing card(s) are in the current opponent’s deck, shuffle them into their owner’s deck and issue Warnings to both players. If the missing card(s) are with the sideboard and it isn’t the first game, choose the ones to be shuffled into the deck at random from all sideboardcards.
Downgrade: If a player, before taking any game actions, discovers incorrect cards in their deck and calls attention to it at that point, the Head Judge may issue a Warning, fix the deck, and, if the player has drawn their opening hand, instruct the player to mulligan. The player may continue to take further mulligans if desired.

IPG: 3.6

Tournament Error — Limited Procedure Violation [Warning]
Definition
A player commits a technical error during a draft.
Examples
A. A player passes a booster to his left when it is supposed to go to his right.
B. A player exceeds the amount of time allotted for a draft pick.
C. A player puts a card on top of his draftpile, then pulls it back.
Philosophy
Errors in draft are disruptive and may become more so if they are not caught quickly. Announcements prior to the draft or the specific tournament rules for the format may specify additional penalties for Limited Procedure Violations.

IPG: 3.7

Definition
A player violates the Player Communication policy detailed in section 4.1 of the Magic Tournament Rules. This infraction only applies to violations of that policy and not to general communication confusion.
Examples
A. A player is asked how many cards he has in his hand and answers “Three.” A few moments later, he realizes that he has four.
B. A player claims she hasn’t played her land for the turn, but it is determined that she had and forgot.
Philosophy
Clear communication is essential when playing Magic. Though many offenses will be intentional, it is possible for a player to make a genuine mistake and these should not be penalized harshly. Refer to section 4.1 of the Magic Tournament Rules for a full explanation of the policy. It can be summarized as:
• Players must answer all questions asked of them by a judge completely and honestly, regardless of the type of information requested. Players may request to do so away from the match.
• Players may not represent derived or free information incorrectly.
• Players must answer completely and honestly any specific questions pertaining to free
information.
Additional Remedy
A backup may be considered in cases where a player has clearly acted upon incorrect information provided to him or her by his or her opponent. The backup should be to the point of the action, not the erroneous communication.

IPG: 3.8

Definition
The cards in a player’s deck are marked or oriented in a way that could potentially give an advantage to that player.
Examples
A. A player has small marks on a few of his sleeves. The markings are on a Mountain, a Loxodon Hierarch, and a Lightning Helix.
B. A player without sleeves has several foil cards that stand out significantly from the rest of her deck.
Philosophy
Sleeves and cards often become worn over the course of a tournament, and, as long as the player is not attempting to take advantage of this, addressing the situation is sufficient in most cases. Note that almost all sleeves can be considered marked in some way; judges should keep this in mind when determining penalties. In cases of marked cards, educating players to shuffle their cards and sleeves before sleeving the cards is very important.
This infraction applies only to cards in a player’s deck. Differently-marked sleeves in the sideboard are not illegal unless they are put into the deck without being changed. Unless investigating, judges are encouraged to alert players about concerns with marked sideboardcards.
Additional Remedy
The player needs to replace the card(s) or sleeve(s) with an unmarked version or, if no sleeves are being used, use sleeves that conceal the markings. If the cards themselves have become marked through play in the tournament, the Head Judge may decide to issue a proxy. If the player is unable to find replacement cards, he or she may replace those cards with basiclands; this change may be reverted at a later point if replacements for marked cards are found.
Upgrade: If the Head Judge believes that a deck’s owner noticing the pattern of markings would be able to take advantage of this knowledge, the penalty is a Game Loss.

IPG: 4

UNSPORTING CONDUCT
Unsporting conduct is disruptive behavior that may affect the safety, competitiveness, enjoyment, or integrity of an event in a significantly negative fashion.
Unsporting behavior is not the same as a lack of sporting behavior. There is a wide middle ground of “competitive” behavior that is certainly neither “nice” nor “sporting” but still doesn’t qualify as “unsporting.” The Head Judge is the final arbiter on what constitutes unsporting conduct.
Judges should inform the player how his or her conduct is disruptive. The player is expected to correct the situation and behavior immediately. However, while making sure that the player understands the severity of his or her actions is important, judges should focus first on calming a situation, and deal with infractions and penalties afterwards.

IPG: 4.1

Unsporting Conduct — Minor [Warning]

Definition
A player takes action that is disruptive to the tournament or its participants. It may affect the comfort level of those around the individual, but determining whether this is the case is not required.
Examples
A. A player uses excessively vulgar and profane language.
B. A player inappropriately demands to a judge that her opponent receive a penalty.
C. A player appeals to the Head Judge before waiting for the floor judge to issue a ruling.
D. A player throws his deck on the ground after losing a game.
E. A player leaves excessive trash in the play area after leaving the table.
F. A player fails to follow the request of a tournament official, such as being asked to leave
the play area.
Philosophy
All participants should expect a safe and enjoyable environment at a tournament, and a participant needs to be made aware if his or her behavior is unacceptable so that this environment may be maintained.
Additional Remedy
The player must correct the problem immediately. Subsequent Unsporting Conduct — Minor infractions, even for different offenses, will result in a Game Loss. If a Game Loss is issued for repeated infractions, and it occurs at the end of a game, it is acceptable for the judge to apply the penalty to the next game instead.

IPG: 4.2

Definition
A player takes action towards one or more individuals that could reasonably be expected to create a feeling of being harassed, threatened, bullied, or stalked. This may include insults based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, disability, or sexual orientation. Threats of physical violence should be treated as Unsporting Conduct – Aggressive Behavior.
It is possible for an offender to commit this infraction without intending malice or harm to the subject of the harassment.
Examples
A. A player uses a racial slur against his opponent.
B. Aplayertakesinappropriatephotosofanotherplayerwithoutexpresspermission.
C. A player asks a spectator for a date, is denied, and continues to press the issue.
D. A player purposefully obstructs another player with the intent of inducing physical
contact.
E. A spectator uses social media to bully another player.
Philosophy
A safe environment is a basic expectation of any tournament attendee. Harassment undermines the safety and integrity of a tournament. Players who purposefully create harmful or unwelcoming situations in an event are expected to immediately correct the behavior and demonstrate remorse or be removed.
Because of the confrontational nature of this infraction, judges need to end any match in progress and separate the players. Care should be taken not to escalate the situation if at all possible. The offender will be removed from the area to receive the penalty, and education about why the behavior is unacceptable regardless of excuse. They may need a few moments to cool down afterwards. Apologizing is encouraged, but the desire of the other individuals to not interact with their harasser must be respected.
Officials must investigate these matters as soon as they are brought to their attention. If they determine that the infraction does not meet the criteria for Unsporting Conduct – Major, it is still recommended that the players be talked to to avoid future misunderstandings.
Additional Remedy
The player must correct the behavior immediately. If the offense occurs at the end of a match, it is acceptable for the judge to apply the penalty to the next matchinstead.
Upgrade: If the offense was committed with malicious intent, the player displays no remorse, or the offense is repeated at a later time, the penalty is Disqualification and removal from the venue.

IPG: 4.3

Definition
A player uses or offers to use a method that is not part of the current game (including actions not legal in the current game) to determine the outcome of a game or match.
Examples
A. As time is called, two players about to draw roll a die to determine the winner.
B. A player offers to flip a coin to determine the winner of a match.
C. Two players arm wrestle to determine the winner of the match.
D. Two playersplay rock-paper-scissors to decide if they should play the match or draw.
E. Two players compare the converted manacosts of the top cards of their libraries to
determine the winner of a game at the end of extra turns.
F. Two playersrevealcards from the top of their libraries to see “who would win” after
extra turns.
Philosophy
Using an outside-the-game method to determine a winner compromises the integrity of the tournament.
Matches that result in a draw due to time are expected to be reported as such and are not excluded from this penalty if the players use an illegal method to determine the outcome.
In most cases this penalty will be issued to both players, unless the other player calls over a judge as soon as an inappropriate suggestion to determine the winner is made.

IPG: 4.4

Unsporting Conduct — Bribery and Wagering [Disqualification]

Definition
A player offers an incentive to entice an opponent into conceding, drawing, or changing the results of a match, or accepts such an offer. Refer to section 5.2 of the Magic Tournament Rules for a more detailed description of what constitutes bribery.
Wagering occurs when a player or spectator at a tournament places or offers to place a bet on the outcome of a tournament, match or any portion of a tournament or match. The wager does not need to be monetary, nor is it relevant if a player is not betting on his or her own match.
Examples
A. A player in a Swiss round offers his opponent $100 to concede the match.
B. A player offers his opponent a card in exchange for a draw.
C. A player asks for a concession in exchange for a prize split.
D. Two players agree that the winner of the match will be able to choose a rare card out of
the other person’s deck after the match.
E. Two spectators place a bet on the number of games that will be needed to decide a match.
Philosophy
Bribery and wagering disrupt the integrity of the tournament and are strictly forbidden.

IPG: 4.5

Unsporting Conduct — Aggressive Behavior [Disqulification]

Definition
A player acts in a threatening way towards others or their property.
Examples
A. A player threatens to hit another player who won’t concede to him.
B. A player pulls a chair out from under another player, causing her to fall to the ground.
C. Aplayermakesthreatsagainstajudgeafterreceivingaruling.
D. A player tears up a card belonging to another player.
E. A player intentionally turns over a table.
Philosophy
The safety of all people at a tournament is of paramount importance. There will be no tolerance of physical abuse or intimidation.
Additional Remedy
The offender should be asked to leave the venue by the organizer.

IPG: 4.6

Definition
A player steals materials from the event, including but not limited to cards or tournamentequipment.
Examples
A. A player steals cards from the sideboard of his opponent.
B. Aplayerstealsthetablenumberfromatable.
C. A player realizes she has a previous opponent’s card, but she hides it instead of telling a
tournament official.
Philosophy
Players enter a tournament expecting that their materials will be protected. This does not absolve the players from their responsibility to keep an eye on their possessions, but they should expect to be able to retain the product they began with or were given for the tournament. Other instances of theft not involving tournament materials are the responsibility of the Tournament Organizer, though judges are encouraged to help in any way possible.
Additional Remedy
The offender should be asked to leave the venue by the organizer.

IPG: 4.7

Unsporting Conduct — Stalling [Disqualification]

Definition
A player intentionally plays slowly in order to take advantage of the time limit. If the slow play is not intentional, please refer to Tournament Error — Slow Playinstead.
Examples
A. A player has two lands in his hand, no options available to significantly affect the game, and spends excessive time “thinking” about what to do to eat up time on the clock.
B. A player is ahead in games and significantly slows down his pace of play so the opponent has little chance to catch up.
C. A player playing slowly appeals a warning in an attempt to gain advantage by having more time to make a decision.
D. A player intentionally mulligans slowly before the third game in an attempt to make it harder for his opponent to win in time.
E. A player losing a game starts slowing down the pace of play in an attempt to run out the clock.

IPG: 4.8

Unsporting Conduct — Cheating [Disqualification]

Definition
A person breaks a rule defined by the tournament documents, lies to a tournament official, or notices an offense committed in his or her (or a teammate's) match and does not call attention to it.
Additionally, the offense must meet the following criteria for it to be considered Cheating:
• The player must be attempting to gain advantage from his or her action.
• The player must be aware that he or she is doing something illegal.
If all criteria are not met, the offense is not Cheating and is handled by a different infraction. Cheating will often appear on the surface as a Game Play Error or Tournament Error, and must be investigated by the judge to make a determination of intent and awareness.
Examples
A. A player alters the results of a match after the match is over.
B. A player lies to a tournament official about what happened in a game to make his case
stronger.
C. A player allows her opponent to put a creature into the graveyard even though the
creature has not been dealt lethal damage.
D. A player notices that his opponent resolved only half of the triggered ability of Sword of
Feast and Famine and decides not to call attention to the error.
E. A player peeks at another player’s picks during the draft.
F. A player adds cards to his Sealed Deck pool.
G. A player realizes he has accidentally drawn an extra card, then fails to call a judge in
order to avoid a penalty.

IPG: Introduction

Effective July 22, 2016
INTRODUCTION
The MagicTM Infraction Procedure Guide provides judges the appropriate penalties and procedures to handle rules violations that occur during a tournament held at Competitive or Professional Rules Enforcement Level (REL), as well as the underlying philosophy that guides their implementation. It exists to protect players from potential misconduct and to protect the integrity of the tournament itself. Rules violations usually require a penalty or they are unenforceable. Tournaments run at Regular REL use the Judging at Regular REL document.
FRAMEWORK OF THIS DOCUMENT
This document is divided into two major parts: General Definitions and Philosophy (section 1), and Infractions (sections 2-4). Infractions are broken down into general classes (Game Play Errors, Tournament Errors, and Unsporting Conduct), and further into subclasses for specific infractions.
See the Magic Tournament Rules for further definitions of terms in this document.
This document is published in multiple languages. If a discrepancy exists between the English version and a non-English version of this document, tournament participants must refer to the English version to settle disputes concerning interpretations of the Infraction Procedure Guide.
This document is updated periodically. Please obtain the most current version at http://www.wizards.com/wpn/Events/Rules.aspx.

MTR:

Introduction
The DCI is a worldwide organization dedicated to organized play. It promotes, enforces, and develops rules and policies using the goals and philosophies defined in this document, the Magic: The Gathering Infraction Procedure Guide, and the Judging at Regular Rules Enforcement Level document. It constantly reviews these rules and policies to ensure its goals are met.
The purpose of this document is to provide the infrastructure used to run Magic: The Gathering (“Magic”) tournaments by defining appropriate rules, responsibilities, and procedures to be followed in all DCI-sanctioned, competitive-level Magic tournaments. DCI-sanctioned tournaments are to be run consistently regardless of their location. This ensures equal treatment of players in different regions and also enables their smooth transition to international tournaments.
All players are treated equally and share responsibilities according to the Rules Enforcement Level (REL) of the tournament. Both players and officials should cooperate to achieve their common goal of running a proper DCI- sanctioned tournament. Players and officials must treat each other in a fair and respectful manner, following both the rules and the spirit in which those rules were created. They are responsible for following the most current version of the Magic Tournament Rules and Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules. Spectators have their own set of responsibilities. Individuals violating DCI rules are subject to penalties defined by the appropriate document for the tournament’s Rules Enforcement Level.
Information in this document may contradict (or have information not contained in) the Comprehensive Rules. In such cases, this document takes precedence.
Official tournament fact sheets located on the Wizards of the Coast website for specific tournaments may define alternative or additional policies or procedures. If a contradiction exists between this document and an official fact sheet located on the Wizards of the Coast website, the information in the fact sheet takes precedence.
Wizards of the Coast reserves the right to alter these rules, as well as the right to interpret, modify, clarify, or otherwise issue official changes to these rules without prior notice.
Future updates to this document are scheduled to be announced on the Monday 5 days prior to the release date of an expansion or core set. Each update will become effective on the release date of that expansion or core set.
The latest versions are available at http://wpn.wizards.com/en/document/magic-gathering-tournament-rules. 4

MTR: 1.1

Tournament Types
1. Tournament Fundamentals
Sanctioned, competitive tournaments are divided into two types: Premier and non-Premier. Premier tournaments are run by Wizards of the Coast or select Tournament Organizers. They have unique names and features. Non- Premier tournaments are tournaments that are not explicitly Premier.
There are two major tournament formats: Limited and Constructed. Each has rules specific to its format. In Limited tournaments, all product for play is provided during the tournament. In Constructed tournaments, players compete using decks prepared beforehand. Some Premier tournaments may consist of multiple formats within the same tournament.
1.2 Publishing Tournament Information
Wizards of the Coast reserves the right to publish DCI-sanctioned tournament information at any time (including during the tournament). Tournament information includes, but is not limited to, the contents of one or more players' decks, descriptions of strategies or play, transcripts, and video reproductions. Tournament Organizers are also allowed to publish this information once their tournament is complete.
Wizards of the Coast reserves the right to publish penalty and suspension information.
1.3 Tournament Roles
The following roles are defined for tournament purposes:
• Tournament Organizer
• Head Judge
• Floor Judge
• Scorekeeper
• Player • Spectator
The first four roles above are considered tournament officials. The Head Judge and floor judges are collectively considered judges. A single individual may act in any combination of tournament official roles. Individuals who are not judges at a tournament are acting as spectators in any match they are not playing in. Members of the press are also considered spectators.
1.4 Participation Eligibility
Anyone is eligible to participate as a player in a DCI-sanctioned, competitive tournament with the exception of the following:
5

• Individuals currently suspended by the DCI. The current DCI suspended player list is located at http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dci/suspended. Individuals currently suspended from the DCI may not act as tournament officials;
• Other individuals specifically prohibited from participation by DCI or Wizards of the Coast policy (such determination is at Wizards of the Coast’s sole discretion);
• Individuals thirteen (13) years of age and younger who do not have their parent/guardians’ permission;
• Anyone prohibited by federal, state, or local laws, the rules of the Tournament Organizer, or by a venue’s management.
Anyone is eligible to participate as a tournament official (Tournament Organizer, Head Judge, floor judge or Scorekeeper) for a tournament with the exception of:
• Individuals currently suspended by the DCI;
• Anyone who has played in the tournament, unless it is a tournament that explicitly allows tournament officials to play while acting as a tournament official.
Tournament officials may play in a DCI-sanctioned tournament for which they are a tournament official if (and only if) the tournament is of the following event types:
• Friday Night Magic
• Prerelease
• Launch Party
• Magic Game Day
• Other non-Premier Magic Tournaments
• Tournaments in which the official Wizards of the Coast tournament fact sheet specifically permits
officials of that tournament to play If one or more tournament officials play in the tournament, it must be run at Regular Rules Enforcement Level. If tournament officials play in the tournament and the tournament is not one of the allowed event types listed above, the tournament will be invalidated. Tournament officials are required to officiate tournaments fairly and without regard to their own self-interest.
The owners of organizations that run Premier Events are not permitted to play in those events, even if the owner is not listed as a tournament official (organizer, judge, and/or scorekeeper) for that event.
Premier Events include the following events: Magic: The Gathering World Championship, World Magic Cup, World Magic Cup Qualifiers, World Magic Cup Qualifier Last Chance Qualifiers, Pro Tour, Regional Pro Tour Qualifiers, Regional Last Chance Qualifiers, Preliminary Pro Tour Qualifiers, Grand Prix, Grand Prix Trials, WPN Premium Tournaments, and WPN Premium Qualifiers, Super Sunday Series Championship, Super Sunday Series Qualifiers.
Some tournaments have additional criteria regarding player and tournament official eligibility (e.g. invitation-only tournaments, such as Pro Tour events).
The Premier Event Invitation Policy defines specific eligibility rules with regards to certain types of invitation- only Premier Tournaments (e.g. Pro Tours).
Individuals with questions regarding their tournament eligibility should contact the DCI policy manager ([email protected]). 6

MTR: 1.5

DCI Membership Number
Tournament participants must provide their DCI membership number to the Scorekeeper during registration. Players without a DCI membership number must request one from the Tournament Organizer. There is no cost associated with joining the DCI, but members are only allowed one DCI membership number. Results containing temporary player numbers, temporary player names, or placeholders may not be reported to the DCI.
1.6 Tournament Organizer
The Tournament Organizer of a tournament is responsible for all tournament logistics including:
• Securing a sanctioning number from the DCI.
• Providing a site for the tournament that meets the tournament’s expected needs.
• Advertising the tournament in advance of the tournament date.
• Staffing the tournament with appropriate tournament officials.
• Providing all materials necessary to operate the tournament (e.g. product for Limited format
tournaments).
• Reporting the tournament results to the DCI.
• Saving match result slips from each tournament for a period of 6 months (to aid in match appeals).
1.7 Head Judge
Sanctioned tournaments require the physical presence of a Head Judge duringplay to adjudicate disputes, interpret rules, and make other official decisions. The Head Judge is the final judicial authority at any DCI- sanctioned tournament and all tournament participants are expected to follow his or her interpretations. Although it is beneficial, the Head Judge does not have to be certified.
The Head Judge’s responsibilities include:
• Ensuring that all necessary steps are taken to deal with game or policy rule violations that he or she notices or are brought to his or her attention.
• Issuing the final ruling in all appeals, potentially overturning the ruling of a floor judge.
• Coordinating and delegating tasks to floor judges as needed.
If necessary, the Head Judge may temporarily transfer his or her duties to any judge if he or she is unable to fulfill them for a period of time. Also, in exceptional circumstances, if the tournament’s integrity would be damaged otherwise, the Tournament Organizer may replace the Head Judge.
Certain Premier tournaments have multiple Head Judges and/or different Head Judges for different portions of the tournament. All Head Judges share the same responsibilities and exercise the same authority while they are serving as a Head Judge.
1.8 Floor Judges
Floor judges are available to players and spectators to answer questions, deal with illegal plays, or assist with reasonable requests. They do not have to be certified.
Judges will not generally assist players in determining the current game state but can answer questions about the rules, interactions between cards, or provide the OracleTM wordings of relevant cards. At Regular Rules Enforcement Level, the judge may assist the player in understanding the game state in the interest of education. If a player wishes to ask his or her question away from the table, the request will usually be honored. Players may not request specific judges to answer their calls, but may request a tournament official to help translate. This request may be honored at the discretion of the original judge.
7

Judges do not intervene in a game to prevent illegal actions, but do intervene as soon as a rule has been broken or to prevent a situation from escalating.
1.9 Scorekeeper
The Scorekeeper ensures the correct generation of pairings and all other tournament records throughout the tournament. The Scorekeeper’s responsibilities include:
• Generating correct pairings each round and accurately entering the results of those rounds.
• Generating standings for posting before the final Swiss round. Other rounds may also be posted at the
Head Judge’s discretion.
• Solving all scorekeeping problems that arise in consultation with the Head Judge.
• Making sure all necessary information is included in the tournament’s report to be submitted to the
DCI.
The Head Judge has the final authority in determining corrective action for scorekeeping errors.
1.10 PlayersPlayers are responsible for:
• Behaving in a respectful manner toward tournament officials, other tournament participants, and spectators and refraining from unsporting conduct at all times.
• Maintaining a clear and legal game state.
• Complying with announced start times and time limits.
• Calling attention to any rules or policy infraction they notice in their matches.
• Bringing to a judge’s attention any offers of bribery, wagering, improper game result determination,
and any discrepancies in their tournamentmatch record.
• Informing the DCI of any discrepancies in their overall match history, rankings, or Planeswalker Points as soon as they become aware of it. If players believe there is an anomaly in their match history, ranking, or Planeswalker Points they should refer to the Magic: The Gathering Event Appeals Policy, located at http://wpn.wizards.com/en/document/magic-event-appeals-policy.
• Having a single DCI membership number. Individuals holding more than one number must contact Wizards of the Coast Customer Service at http://www.wizards.com/customerservice so that their numbers can be merged.
• Refraining from enrolling in tournaments they are not allowed by policy to participate in (e.g. the winner of a Magic: The Gathering Preliminary Pro Tour Qualifier is barred from playing in further Preliminary Pro Tour Qualifiers that season).
• Being familiar with the rules contained within this document.
• Being physically present for the tournament. Players are not permitted to register for a tournament solely to collect participation Planeswalker Points.
A player must bring the following items to a tournament in order to participate:
• A physical, visible, and reliable method to maintain and record game information (tokens, score counters, pen and paper, and so on).
• A valid DCI membership number registered in the participant’s name. New players may register for DCI membership when enrolling in the tournament.
• Any materials specifically required for a particular tournament format, such as assembled decks and/or decklists for constructed tournaments.
Players retain their responsibilities even if a judge provides them with extra assistance. 8 The individual members of a team are considered players, and are equally responsible for required tournament procedures, such as accurately filling out their match result slips. However, players are only responsible for the games they play themselves and not separate games being played by their teammates.
Players who do not fulfill their responsibilities may be subject to penalties and review by the DCI. Wizards of the Coast and the DCI reserve the right to suspend or revoke a player's membership without prior notice for any reason they deem necessary.
1.11 Spectators
Any person physically present at a tournament and not in any other category above is a spectator. Spectators are responsible for remaining silent and passive during matches and other official tournament sections in which players are also required to be silent. If spectators believe they have observed a rules or policy violation, they are encouraged to alert a judge as soon as possible. At Regular or Competitive Rules Enforcement Level, spectators are permitted to ask the players to pause the match while they alert a judge. At Professional Rules Enforcement Level, spectators must not interfere with the match directly.
Players may request that a spectator not observe their matches. Such requests must be made through a judge. Tournament officials may also instruct a spectator not observe a match or matches.
1.12 Rules Enforcement Levels
Rules Enforcement Levels (REL) are a means to communicate to the players and judges what expectations they can have of the event in terms of rigidity of rules enforcement, technically correct play, and procedures used.
The Rules Enforcement Level of an event generally reflects the prizes awarded and the distance a player may be expected to travel.
The appropriate Rules Enforcement Level for specific programs is listed in Appendix F.
Regular
Regular events are focused on fun and social aspects, not enforcement. Most tournaments are run at this level unless they offer sizeable prizes or invitations. Players are expected to know most of the game rules, may have heard of policy and what is “really bad,” but generally play in a fashion similar to the way they do casually. Players are still responsible for following the rules, but the focus is on education and sportsmanship over technically precise play. Infractions in these tournaments are covered by the Judging at Regular Rules Enforcement Level document, located at http://wpn.wizards.com/en/node/61.
Competitive
Competitive events are usually those with significant cash prizes or invitations awarded to Professional events. Players are expected to know the game’s rules and be familiar with the policies and procedures, but unintentional errors are not punished severely. These are events that protect the interests of all players by providing event integrity while also recognizing that not all players are intimately familiar with Professional-level event structure, proper procedures, and rules. Infractions in these tournaments are covered by the Magic Infraction Procedure Guide, located at http://wpn.wizards.com/en/document/magic-infraction-procedure-guide.
Professional
Professional level events offer large cash awards, prestige, and other benefits that drawplayers from great distances. These events hold players to a higher standard of behavior and technically-correct play than Competitive events. Infractions in these tournaments are covered by the Magic Infraction Procedure Guide, located at http://wpn.wizards.com/en/document/magic-infraction-procedure-guide. 9

MTR: 2.1

Match Structure
1.
2. 3.
4.
5. 6.
If game actions were taken during a previous game of the match, players may exchangecards in their decks for cards in their sideboards. Players may not sideboardduring games that have been restarted. Playersshuffle their decks. Steps 1 and 2 may be repeated.
Players present their decks to their opponents for additional shuffling. The sideboard (if any) is also presented at this time.
After the first or subsequent game of the match, the relevant player must decide whether to play first or second at this point, if he or she hasn't done so already. If that player doesn't choose before looking at the cards in his or her hand, then he or she is considered to have chosen to play first.
Each player draws seven cards. Optionally, these cards may be dealt face down on the table.
Each player, in turn order, may take mulligans. (Rules on mulligans can be found in the Magic Comprehensive Rules, rule 103.4). If a player takes a mulligan, they repeat the shuffling and presentation process described above.
The game
may be performed before time for the match has officially begun.
2. Tournament Mechanics
A Magic match consists of a series of games that are played until one side has won a set number of games, usually two. Drawn games do not count toward this goal. If the round ends before a player has won the required number of games, the winner of the match is the player who has won the most games at that point. If both players have equal game wins, the match is a draw.
The Tournament Organizer may change the required number of games to be won for any portion of the tournament as long as this choice is announced before the tournament begins. Match results, not individual game results, are reported to the DCI for inclusion in Planeswalker Points.
2.2 Play/Draw Rule
For the first game of a match, the winner of a random method (such as a die roll or coin toss) chooses either to play first or to play second. The winner must state this choice before looking at his or her hand. If the winner states no choice, it is assumed that he or she is playing first. The player who plays first skips the draw step of his or her first turn. This is referred to as the play/draw rule.
After each game in a match, the loser of that game decides whether to play first in the next game. They may wait until after sideboarding to make the decision. If the previous game was a draw, the player who decided to play or draw at the beginning of the drawn game chooses.
In playoff matches, a different play/draw rule is used. In playoff matches, the player that was ranked higher in the Swiss rounds chooses either to play first or to play second in the first game of each match. For the second and subsequent games, the loser of the previous game decides whether to play first in the next game.
2.3 Pregame Procedures
The following steps must be performed in a timely manner before each game begins:
is considered to have begun once all players have completed taking mulligans. Pregame procedures
10

MTR: 2.4

Conceding or Intentionally Drawing Games or Matches
If a game or match is not completed, players may concede or mutually agree to a draw in that game or match. A match is considered complete once the result slip is filled out or, if match slips are not being used, a player leaves the table after game play is finished. Until that point, either player may concede to or draw with the other, though if the conceding player won a game in the match, the match must be reported as 2-1. Intentional draws where no games were played are always reported as 0-0-3.
Players may not agree to a concession or draw in exchange for any reward or incentive. Doing so will be considered Bribery (see section 5.2).
If a player refuses to play, it is assumed that he or she has conceded the match.
2.5 End-of-Match Procedure
If the match time limit is reached before a winner is determined, the player whose turn it is finishes his or her turn and five additional turns are played in total. This usually means that one player takes three turns and the other two, but a player taking extra turns may affect this. Team tournaments featuring multiple players playing together (such as Two-Headed Giant) use three turns instead of five.
Once time is called, no new games should begin.
If the game is incomplete at the end of additional turns, the game is considered a draw.
If a judge assigned a time extension (because of a long ruling, deck check, or other reason) the end-of-match procedure does not begin until the end of the time extension.
In single-elimination rounds, matches may not end in a draw. If all players have equal game wins at the end of additional turns, the player with the highest life total wins the current game. In the event all players have equal life totals (or are between games and the game wins are tied), the game/match continues with an additional state- based action: if a player does not have the highest life total, he or she loses the game. Two-Headed Giant teams are treated as a single player for determining a game winner.
2.6 Time Extensions
If a judge pauses a match for more than one minute while the round clock is running, he or she should extend the match time appropriately. If the match was interrupted to perform a deck check, players are awarded time equal to the time the deck check took plus three minutes.
Certain slow play penalties add turns rather than a time extension. These additional turns are added to the end-of- match additional turns.
2.7 Deck Registration
Players are required to register their decks and sideboards (if applicable) in Competitive and Professional Rules Enforcement Level tournaments. The Head Judge may require registration in Regular Rules Enforcement Level tournaments.
Players in individual Limited tournaments using decklists must refrain from communicating with, or revealing hidden information to, any players or spectators until after they hand in their decklists.
Registered decklists record the original composition of each deck and sideboard (if applicable). Once your decklist has been accepted by a Tournament Official it may not be altered.
11

In Constructed tournaments, decklists must be submitted to a tournament official prior to the start of round 1, even if the player has an awarded bye for that round.
In Limited tournaments, decklists must be submitted prior to the start of the first round in which that player participates and does not have an awarded bye.
Players have the right to request to see their decklist between matches. Such a request will be honored if logistically possible.
Generally, decklists are not public information and are not shared with other playersduring a tournament. At constructed-format, Professional Rules Enforcement Level tournaments (Pro Tour, World Magic Cup, World Championship, and Grand Prix), copies of opponents’ decklists will be provided to players in the single- elimination playoffs.
2.8 Deck Checks
Deck checks must be performed at all Competitive and Professional Rules Enforcement Level tournaments, and the Head Judge has the option to perform deck checks at Regular Rules Enforcement Level tournaments. At least ten percent of all decks should be checked over the course of the tournament. A full deck check should not be performed if a player has drawn an opening hand and potentially made mulligan decisions.
2.9 Appeals to the Head Judge
If a player disagrees with a judge’s ruling, he or she may appeal the ruling to the Head Judge. In larger, Premier- level tournaments (such as Grand Prix and Pro Tours), with prior approval, the Head Judge may designate additional Appeals Judges who are also empowered to hear appeals. They will be wearing the same uniform as the Head Judge.
Players may not appeal before the full ruling is made by the responding floor judge. Rulings made by the Head Judge or designated Appeals Judges are final.
2.10 Dropping from a TournamentPlayers may drop from a tournament at any time. If a player drops from a tournament before the first round of play has started, he or she is considered to have not participated in the tournament and will not be listed in the finish order nor receive participation Planeswalker Points. Players choosing to drop from a tournament must inform the Scorekeeper by the means provided for that tournament before the pairings for the next round are generated. Players wanting to drop after the Scorekeeper begins pairing for the next round will be paired for that round. If a player does not show up for his or her match, he or she will be automatically dropped from the tournamentunless they report to the Scorekeeper. Players that repeatedly and/or intentionally drop from tournaments without informing the scorekeepers of those events may be the subject of penalties up to and including suspension.
Players who drop duringlimited events own the cards that they correctly have in their possession at that time. This includes any unopened or partially drafted boosters.
If a player drops from a tournament after a cut has been made, such as a cut to the top 8 playoff in a Grand Prix tournament, no other player is advanced as a replacement. The highest ranked remaining player receives a bye for the round instead.
Players who have dropped may reenter a tournament at the discretion of the Head Judge. Players may not reenter a portion of the tournament that requires a deck they did not draft or build. Players may not reenter a tournament after any cut has been made.
12 Players may not drop from a tournament in exchange for or influenced by the offer of any reward or incentive. Doing so is considered Bribery (see section 5.2).
2.11 Taking Notes
Players are allowed to take written notes during a match and may refer to those notes while that match is in progress. At the beginning of a match, each player’s note sheet must be empty and must remain visible throughout the match. Players do not have to explain or reveal notes to other players. Judges may ask to see a player’s notes and/or request that the player explain his or her notes.
Players may not refer to other notes, including notes from previous matches, during games.
Between games, players may refer to a brief set of notes made before the match. They are not required to reveal these notes to their opponents. These notes must be removed from the play area before the beginning of the next game. Excessive quantities of notes (more than a sheet or two) are not allowed and may be penalized as slow play.
The use of electronic devices to take and refer to notes is permitted at Regular Rules Enforcement Level (see section 2.12 – Electronic Devices).
Players and spectators (exception: authorized press) may not make notes while drafting. Players may not reference any outside notes during drafting, card pool registration, or deckbuilding.
Players may refer to Oracle text at any time. They must do so publicly and in a format which contains no other strategic information. Consulting online sources, such as gatherer.wizards.com, is allowed at Regular Rules Enforcement Level even if they contain a small amount of strategic information. If a player wishes to view Oracle text in private, he or she must ask a judge.
Artistic modifications to cards that indirectly provide minor strategic information are acceptable. The Head Judge is the final arbiter on what cards and notes are acceptable for a tournament.
2.12 Electronic Devices
At Competitive and Professional Rules Enforcement Level during drafting, deck construction, and playing of matches, players may not use electronic devices capable of taking and storing notes, communicating with other people, or accessing the internet (with the exception of taking brief personal calls with the opponent's permission).
At Regular Rules Enforcement Level, electronic devices are permitted, but players may not use them to access information that contains substantial strategic advice or information about an opponent's deck. Device use during a match other than brief personal calls must be visible to all players. Players wishing to view information privately on electronic devices during matches must request permission from a judge.
The Head Judge or Tournament Organizer of a tournament may further restrict or forbid the use of electronic devices during matches.
2.13 Video Coverage
Some Competitive and Professional Rules Enforcement Level events use video for live streaming or replay broadcast of matches. Players may decline to appear on camera; however, players in the playoff matches of Professional Rules Enforcement Level events may not decline to appear on camera. Video commentators are considered spectators for the purpose of the tournament, but may talk during the match as long as they can’t be heard by players being covered. They are responsible for behaving respectfully to all tournament participants during coverage.
13 Spectators are also permitted to record matches provided that they do so unobtrusively.
The Head Judge of a World Championship, World Magic Cup, or Pro Tour tournament may, in his or her sole discretion, use video replay to assist in making rulings during a match. Video replays may not be used to assist in making rulings in events other than a World Championship, World Magic Cup, or Pro Tour tournament. Players may not request that a judge consult a video replay. Video replays may also be used for investigative purposes at a later time.
At Professional Rules Enforcement Level events which use video for live-streaming or replay broadcast of matches, players playing matches in the video filming area must arrange their cards, tokens, and other accessories on the battlefield using the following layout:
• From the player’s perspective, nonlands must be kept closer to the player’s opponent than lands, and no cards should be between the land area and the edge of the table closest to the player.
• Non-creaturepermanents whose use may reasonably be associated with either the land or nonland area (e.g. an artifact whose only ability is a mana ability) may be located in either area, provided the overall layout is, in the judgment of tournament officials, clear. However, permanents that are also creatures (e.g. artifacts with March of the Machines on the battlefield, Dryad Arbor, or a Treetop Village that is currently a creature) must be placed in the nonland area. Players may not use other cards to intentionally obscure the presence of a permanent in any area of the battlefield.
• Each card should remain clearly associated with any permanents attached to it. For example, an Aura enchanting a land should be in the land area in contact with that land.
• The player’s library, graveyard, and exiled cards should be kept all to the left of the battlefield or all to the right of the battlefield at the player’s discretion.
• The player’s graveyard and exiled cards should be adjacent to the player’s library. All three should be distinct at all times.
• If a card is exiled by a permanent and that permanent includes a way to perform additional actions with the exiled card, that card should remain in contact with that permanent such that the association is clear.
• Each untappedpermanent should face its controller. Players are permitted to briefly turn a card upside-down as a memory aid.
Tournament officials may make exceptions or additions to these guidelines at their sole discretion in order to keep each player’s game layout clear. Players in exceptional situations (e.g. a player playing a deck with no lands or a deck that makes significant use of the graveyard) should consult with tournament officials to determine what allowances, if any, will be made.
2.14 Life Totals
At the start of a match, each player must indicate how he or she will keep track of his or her life total (including number of poison counters). This method must be visible to both playersduring the match. A shared method is acceptable as long as all players in the match have access to it.
A change in a player’s life total should be accompanied by a verbal announcement by that player of the new life total.
If a player notices a discrepancy in a recorded or announced life total, he or she is expected to point it out as soon as the discrepancy is noticed.
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MTR: 3.1

Tiebreakers
3. Tournament Rules The following tiebreakers are used to determine how a player ranks in a tournament:
1. Match points
2. Opponents’ match-win percentage
3. Game-win percentage
4. Opponents’ game-win percentage
Definitions of these tiebreakers can be found in Appendix C. Not all of these tiebreakers may be used in formats with single-game matches.
3.2 Format and Ratings Categories
Wizards of the Coast sanctions the following formats as individual, three-person team, or Two-Headed Giant tournaments:
Constructed Formats
• Standard
• BlockConstructed • Modern
Eternal Constructed Formats
• Vintage • Legacy
Limited Formats
• Sealed Deck • Booster Draft (individual and Two-Headed Giant only)
• Rochester Draft (three-person team only)
Wizards of the Coast maintains the following Planeswalker Points rating categories:
• Lifetime
• Yearly
• Professional
For complete information about Planeswalker Points, visit the Planeswalker Points website at
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/PlaneswalkerPoints
3.3 Authorized CardsPlayers may use any Authorized Game Cards from Magic: The Gathering expansions, core sets, special sets, supplements, and promotional printings. Authorized Game Cards are cards that, unaltered, meet the following conditions: 15

• The card is genuine and published by Wizards of the Coast
• The card has a standard Magic back, is a double-faced card, or is a card that is part of a meld pair.
• The card does not have squared corners.
• The card has black or white borders.
• The card is not a tokencard.
• The card is not damaged or modified in a way that might make it marked.
• The card is otherwise legal for the tournament as defined by the format.
The Head Judge of an event may issue a proxy (see section 3.4) for a card that has become worn or damaged during the tournament. Any other cards that are not Authorized Game Cards are prohibited in all sanctioned tournaments.
Unglued and Unhinged basiclandcards are allowed in sanctioned Magic tournaments.
Players may use cards from the Alpha printing only if the deck is in opaque sleeves.
Players may use otherwise-legal non-English and/or misprinted cards provided they are not using them to create an advantage by using misleading text or pictures. Official promotional textless spells are allowed in sanctioned Magic tournaments in which they would otherwise be legal.
Artistic modifications are acceptable in sanctioned tournaments, provided that the modifications do not make the card art unrecognizable, contain substantial strategic advice, or contain offensive images. Artistic modifications also may not obstruct or change the mana cost or name of the card.
The Head Judge is the final authority on acceptable cards for a tournament.
3.4 Proxy Cards A proxy card is used during competition to represent an Authorized Game Card that has been accidentally damaged or excessively worn in the current tournament (including damaged or misprinted Limited product) as determined solely by the Head Judge. Proxies are not allowed as substitutes for cards that their owner has damaged intentionally or through negligence.
Players may not create their own proxies; they may only be created by the Head Judge. When a judge creates a proxy, it is included in the player’s deck and must be denoted as a proxy in a clear and conspicuous manner. The original card is kept nearby during the match and replaces the proxy while in a public zone as long as it is recognizable. A proxy is valid only for the duration of the tournament in which it was originally issued.
Official checklist cards are Authorized Game Cards and may have a proxy issued by a judge.
3.5 Checklist Cards Official checklist cards are used to represent double-faced cards in the sets that contain them. Only official checklist cards may be used to represent double-faced cards in a deck.
The use of checklist cards is required if a player has double-faced cards in his or her deck and is not using completely opaque sleeves.
If a player uses a checklist card to represent a double-faced card in his or her deck, then all copies of that double- faced card in the deck must be represented by checklist cards, and any copies of that double-faced card in a hidden zone are considered to not exist for purposes of determining deck legality.
Each individual checklist card used must have one (and only one) of the items checked.
16 A checklist card is only used while the card it represents is in a hidden zone. The card represented by a checklist card is not a playable Magic card until the checklist card has been placed in a public zone. Multiple checklists cannot be used to represent a single copy of the actual card. For each checklist card used, the player must have a copy of the actual card available, though they are not considered sideboardcards and are not presented to their opponent.
3.6 Card Interpretation
The official text of any card is the Oracle text corresponding to the name of the card. Players have the right to request access to the official wording of a card only if they can uniquely identify that card, although the card does not necessarily have to be identified by name. That request will be honored if logistically possible. Identifying a double-faced or flip card by either name on it is acceptable, as long as the ability that requires the name does not refer to an object on the battlefield.
Players may not use errors or omissions in Oracle to abuse the rules. The Head Judge is the final authority for card interpretations, and he or she may overrule Oracle if an error is discovered.
Certain cards refer to “a (card or cards) you own from outside the game.” In tournamentplay, a card “you own from outside the game" is a card in that player’s sideboard.
3.7 New Releases
Newly released card sets become tournament legal for sanctioned tournaments on the following dates:
• Shadows over InnistradTM
• Eldritch MoonTM
• KaladeshTM
• Aether RevoltTM
April 8, 2016
July 22, 2016 September 30, 2016 January 20, 2017
For official Prerelease tournaments only, new sets are legal for use before the official format legal date. In these cases, any announced rules updates shall be in effect at these tournaments, including informal explanations of new rules and mechanics.
These dates may be subject to change. Any changes will be announced at http://www.magicthegathering.com.
3.8 Game Markers
Small items (e.g. glass beads) may be used as markers and placed on top of a player’s own library or graveyard as a reminder for in-game effects. These markers may not disguise the number of cards remaining in that zone nor completely obscure any card.
Players using markers to represent in-game components (e.g. permanents) must have a way of clearly representing any in-game status, such as whether a permanent is tapped. Sleeves or card backs that appear similar to any player’s sleeves or card backs may not be used as markers. A tournament official may disallow the use of game markers that can cause confusion or that are deemed inappropriate or offensive.
3.9 Card Shuffling
Decks must be randomized at the start of every game and whenever an instruction requires it. Randomization is defined as bringing the deck to a state where no player can have any information regarding the order or position of cards in any portion of the deck. Pile shuffling alone is not sufficiently random. 17 Once the deck is randomized, it must be presented to an opponent. By this action, players state that their decks are legal and randomized. The opponent may then shuffle it additionally. Cards and sleeves must not be in danger of being damaged during this process. If the opponent does not believe the player made a reasonable effort to randomize his or her deck, the opponent must notify a judge. Players may request to have a judge shuffle their cards rather than the opponent; this request will be honored only at a judge’s discretion.
If a player has had the opportunity to see any of the card faces of the deck being shuffled, the deck is no longer considered randomized and must be randomized again.
At Competitive and Professional Rules Enforcement Level tournaments, players are required to shuffle their opponents’ decks after their owners have shuffled them. The Head Judge can require this at Regular Rules Enforcement Level tournaments as well.
3.10 Sleeves
Players may use plastic card sleeves or other protective devices on cards. If a player chooses to use card sleeves, all sleeves must be identical and all cards in his or her deck must be placed in the sleeves in an identical manner. If the sleeves feature holograms or other similar markings, cards must be inserted into the sleeves so these markings appear only on the faces of the cards.
During a match, a player may request that a judge inspect an opponent’s card sleeves. The judge may disallow the card sleeves if he or she believes they are marked, worn, or otherwise in a condition or of a design that interferes with shuffling or game play. In the interest of efficiency, the judge may choose to delay any change of sleeves until the end of the match.
Competitive and Professional Rules Enforcement Level tournaments impose additional restrictions on sleeves. Highly reflective backs are not allowed. Sleeves with hologram patterns across some or all of the sleeve front or back are not allowed. Sleeves with artwork on their backs may be subjected to additional scrutiny, especially if there is no solid border around the edges.
When using sleeves on double-faced cards, sleeves must be completely opaque. The Head Judge is the final authority on what sleeves are allowed.
3.11 Marked CardsPlayers are responsible for ensuring that their cards and/or card sleeves are not marked during the course of the tournament. A card or sleeve is considered marked if it bears something that makes it possible to identify the card without seeing its face, including scratches, discoloration, and bends.
If a player’s cards are sleeved, the cards must be examined while in the sleeves to determine if they are marked. Players should use care when sleeving their decks and should randomize their decks prior to sleeving them to reduce the possibility of cards becoming marked with a pattern. Players should also keep in mind that cards or sleeves may become worn and potentially marked through playduring the course of a tournament.
The Head Judge has the authority to determine if a card in a player’s deck is marked. Judges may request that a player remove his or her current sleeves or replace any of the deck’s current sleeves immediately, or before the next round.
If a player is required to replace a card in his or her deck and is unable to find a replacement, the player may replace the card with a card named Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, or Forest of his or her choice. This also applies to cards that are lost.
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MTR: 3.12

Hidden Information
Hidden information refers to the faces of cards and other objects at which the rules of the game and format do not allow you to look.
Throughout the match, a draft, and pregame procedures, players are responsible for keeping their cards above the level of the playing surface and for making reasonable efforts to prevent hidden information from being revealed. However, players may choose to reveal their hands or any other hidden information available to them, unless specifically prohibited by the rules. Players must not actively attempt to gain information hidden from them, but are not required to inform opponents who are accidentally revealing hidden information.
3.13 Tapped/FlippedCards If a card must be tapped or flipped, it must be turned approximately 90 degrees (tapped) or 180 degrees (flipped), whichever is appropriate.
3.14 Graveyard Order
In formats involving only cards from Urza’s SagaTM and later, players may change the order of their graveyard at any time. A player may not change the order of an opponent’s graveyard.
3.15 Sideboard A sideboard is a group of additional cards the player may use to modify his or her deck between games of a match. The player may use these cards in his or her main deckduring all games after the first one in a match. Other items (tokencards, double-faced card represented in the deck by a checklist card, etc.) should be kept separate from the sideboardduring game play.
Before the beginning of the second or subsequent game in a match, players may change the composition of their deck by exchanging cards from their deck for cards in their sideboard. If players restart a game due to an in-game effect, the composition of their decks must remain the same for the restarted game.
Before each game begins, players must present their sideboard (if any) face down. Opponents may count the number of cards in their opponent’s sideboard at any time. Players are not required to reveal how many cards they have swapped from their main deck to their sideboard.
During a game, players may look at their own sideboard, keeping it clearly distinguishable from other cards at all times. If a player gains control of another player, he or she may not look at that player’s sideboard, nor may he or she have that player access his or her sideboard.
The deck and sideboard must each be returned to their original compositions before the first game of each match.
Restrictions on the composition and use of a sideboard can be found in the deck construction rules for a particular format type.
If a penalty causes a player to lose the first game in a match before that game has begun, or the first game is intentionally drawn before any cards are played, neither player may use cards from his or her sideboard for the next game in the match.
19

MTR: 4.1

Player Communication
4. Communication
Communication between players is essential to the successful play of any game that involves virtual objects or hidden information. While bluffing may be an aspect of games, there need to be clear lines as to what is, and is not, acceptable for players to say or otherwise represent. This will confirm expectations of both sporting and competitive playersduring a game.
A player should have an advantage due to better understanding of the options provided by the rules of the game, greater awareness of the interactions in the current game state, and superior tactical planning. Players are under no obligation to assist their opponents in playing the game. Regardless of anything else, players are expected to treat opponents politely and with respect. Failure to do so may lead to Unsporting Conduct penalties.
There are three categories of information: free, derived and private.
Free information is information to which all players are entitled access without contamination or omissions made by their opponents. If a player is ever unable or unwilling to provide free information to an opponent that has requested it, he or she should call a judge and explain the situation. Free information consists of:
• Details of current game actions and past game actions that still affect the game state.
• The name of any visible object.
• The type of any counter in a public zone.
• The state (whether it’s tapped, attached to another permanent, face down, etc.) and current zone of
any object.
• Playerlife totals, poison counter totals, and the game score of the current match.
• The contents of each player’s mana pool.
• The current step and/or phase and which player(s) are active.
Derived information is information to which all players are entitled access, but opponents are not obliged to assist in determining and may require some skill or calculation to determine. Derived information consists of:
• The number of any kind of objects present in any game zone.
• All characteristics of objects in public zones that are not defined as free information.
• Game Rules, Tournament Policy, Oracle content and any other official information pertaining to the
current tournament. Cards are considered to have their Oracle text printed on them.
Private information is information to which players have access only if they are able to determine it from the current visual game state or their own record of previous game actions.
• Any information that is not free or derived is automatically private information. The following rules govern player communication:
• Players must answer all questions asked of them by a judge completely and honestly, regardless of the type of information requested. Players may request to do so away from the match.
• Players may not represent derived or free information incorrectly.
• Players must answer completely and honestly any specific questions pertaining to free information.
• At Regular Rules Enforcement Level, all derived information is instead considered free.
Judges are encouraged to help players in determining free information, but must avoid assisting players with derived information about the game state.
20

MTR: 4.3

Out-of-Order Sequencing
Due to the complexity of accurately representing a game of Magic, it is acceptable for players to engage in a block of actions that, while technically in an incorrect order, arrive at a legal and clearly understood game state once they are complete.
All actions taken must be legal if they were executed in the correct order, and any opponent can ask the player to do the actions in the correct sequence so that he or she can respond at the appropriate time (at which point players will not be held to any still-pending actions).
An out-of-order sequence must not result in a player prematurely gaining information which could reasonably affect decisions made later in that sequence.
Players may not try to use opponent's reactions to some portion of an out-of-order sequence to see if he or she should modify actions or try to take additional ones. Nor may players use out-of-order sequencing to try to retroactively take an action they missed at the appropriate time. In general, any substantial pause at the end of a completed batch is an indication that all actions have been taken, the sequence is complete and the game has moved to the appropriate point at the end of the sequence.
Examples
1. A player discards a card to pay for Masticore’s upkeep cost before untapping his or her land.
2. A player resolves Harrow and puts the card into his or her graveyard, then searches.
3. While resolving Restore Balance, a player discards before sacrificing lands and creatures.
4. A player with two creatures being put into the graveyard due to state-based actions resolves the
leaves-the-battlefieldtriggered ability on one of them before putting the other creature in the
graveyard.
5. A player declares a blocker, animates a Treetop Village, and then attempts to block with that Treetop
Village.
4.4 Triggered AbilitiesPlayers are expected to remember their own triggered abilities; intentionally ignoring one is Cheating. Players are not required to point out the existence of triggered abilities that they do not control, though they may do so within a turn if they wish.
Triggered abilities are considered to be forgotten by their controller once they have taken an action past the point where the triggered ability would have an observable impact on the game. Triggered abilities that are forgotten are not considered to have gone onto the stack. How forgotten triggered abilities are subsequently handled is defined by the Rules Enforcement Level of the event.
4.5 Team/Two-Headed Giant Communication
Members of the same team may, at all times, communicate between one another verbally. This includes duringplay, during drafting, and duringdeck construction of Limited tournaments. However, team members that have an opportunity to acquire hidden information (e.g. by speaking to spectators following their own match while a teammate is still playing), are restricted from communicating with teammates for the duration of that match.
Prohibitions against written notes of any kind during drafts apply to team drafts as well.
22

MTR: 5.1

Cheating
5. Tournament Violations
Cheating will not be tolerated. The Head Judge reviews all cheating allegations, and if he or she believes that a player has cheated, he or she will issue the appropriate penalty based on the Infraction Procedure Guide or Judging at Regular Rules Enforcement Level document. All disqualifications are subject to DCI review and further penalties may be assessed.
5.2 Bribery
The decision to drop, concede, or agree to an intentional draw cannot be made in exchange for or influenced by the offer of any reward or incentive, nor may any in-game decision be influenced in this manner. Making such an offer is prohibited. Unless the player receiving such an offer calls for a judge immediately, both players will be penalized in the same manner. Players may not make any offers to tournament officials in an attempt to influence the outcome of a ruling.
Players are allowed to share prizes they have not yet received in the current tournament as they wish and may agree as such before or during their match, as long as any such sharing does not occur in exchange for any game or match result or the dropping of a player from the tournament. As an exception, players in the announced last round of the single-elimination portion of a tournament may agree to divide tournament prizes as they wish. In that case, one of the players at each table must agree to drop from the tournament. Players are then awarded prizes according to their resulting ranking.
The result of a match or game may not be randomly or arbitrarily determined through any means other than the normal progress of the game in play. Examples include (but are not limited to) rolling a die, flipping a coin, arm wrestling, or playing any other game.
Players may not reach an agreement in conjunction with other matches. Players can make use of information regarding match or game scores of other tables. However, players are not allowed to leave their seats during their match or go to great lengths to obtain this information.
Players in the single-elimination rounds of a tournamentoffering only cash, store credit, prize tickets, and/or unopened product as prizes may, with the permission of the Tournament Organizer, agree to split the prizes evenly. The players may end the tournament at that point or continue to play. All players still in the tournament must agree to the arrangement.
Example: Before the semifinals of a tournament (in which first place gets 12 packs, second place gets 8 packs and 3rd and 4th get 4 packs each) begins, the players may get permission from the Tournament Organizer to end the tournament, with each player receiving 7 packs.
Example: In the finals of a 1-slot Preliminary Pro Tour Qualifier that offers a travel award and an invitation to the winner, the two finalists may agree to split the tournament prizes, but this agreement cannot alter the results of the match. One player must drop from the tournament, leaving the travel award and the invitation to the player who did not drop from the tournament. That player is then free to split the remainder of the prizes as agreed upon. The travel award and invitation are a single item and may not be split.
5.3 Wagering
Tournament participants, tournament officials, and spectators may not wager, ante, or bet on any portion (including the outcome) of a tournament, match, or game.
23

MTR: 5.4

Unsporting Conduct
Unsporting conduct will not be tolerated at any time. Tournament participants must behave in a polite and respectful manner. Unsporting conduct includes, but is not limited to:
• Using profanity.
• Engaging in behavior that could reasonably be expected to create a feeling of being harassed, bullied,
or stalked.
• Arguing with, acting belligerently toward, or insulting tournament officials, players or spectators.
• Violating the personal privacy or safety of any participant, including spectators and staff.
• Using social media to bully, shame, or intimidate other participants.
• Failing to follow the instructions of a tournament official.
Officials are expected to investigate potential matters brought their attention as soon as possible and take actions to discourage repeat behavior. All incidents of unsporting conduct are subject to further DCI review.
5.5 Slow PlayPlayers must take their turns in a timely fashion regardless of the complexity of the play situation and adhere to time limits specified for the tournament. Players must maintain a pace to allow the match to be finished in the announced time limit. Stalling is not acceptable. Players may ask a judge to watch their game for slow play; such a request will be granted if feasible.
24

MTR: 6

ConstructedTournament Rules 6.1 Deck Construction Restrictions
Constructed decks must contain a minimum of sixty cards. There is no maximum deck size. If a player chooses to use a sideboard, it may not contain more than fifteen cards.
With the exception of cards with the basicsupertype or cards with text that specifies otherwise, a player’s combined deck and sideboard may not contain more than four of any individual card, based on its English card title.
A card may only be used in a particular format if the card is from a set that is legal in that format or has the same name as a card from a set that is legal in that format.
Cards banned in a specific format may not be used in decks for that format. Cards restricted in a specific format may only have one copy in a deck, including sideboard.
6.2 Sideboard Use
Players may exchange any number of cards between their deck and sideboard, provided that the resulting deck and sideboard are legal. There are no restrictions on the number of cards a player may exchange this way. Cards do not need to be exchanged on a one-for-one basis.
6.3 Standard Format Deck Construction
The following card sets are permitted in Standard tournaments:
• Dragons of TarkirTM (until September 30, 2016)
• Magic OriginsTM (until September 30, 2016)
• Battle for ZendikarTM
• Oath of the GatewatchTM
• Shadows over Innistrad
• Eldritch Moon (effective July 22, 2016)
• Kaladesh (effective September 30, 2016)
• Aether Revolt (effective January 20, 2017)
In addition, cards from Booster Battle Pack, Welcome Deck, and Deckbuilder’s Toolkit products with the “W16” set identification code and the “ ” expansion symbol are also permitted in Standard Tournaments. These cards will rotate out of the Standard format at the same time as the Shadows over Innistrad expansion.
There are currently no cards banned in Standard tournaments.
25

MTR: 7

LimitedTournament Rules 7.1 Deck Construction Restrictions
Limited decks must contain a minimum of forty cards. There is no maximum deck size. Players are not restricted to four of any one card in Limitedtournamentplay.
7.2 Card Use in Limited Tournaments
Cards must be received directly from tournament officials. This product must be new and previously unopened. Pro Tour, Grand Prix, World Magic Cup, and World Championship events may have had boosters opened in order to stamp them. Each player (or team) must be given exactly the same quantity and type of product as all other players participating in the tournament. For example, if one player receives three Magic Origins boosters for a booster draft, all other players must also receive three Magic Origins boosters.
Only cards from the expansions of the boosters opened (and only cards opened or drafted in that player’s pool) may be used in a player’s deck. The following are exceptions to this rule:
• Players may add an unlimited number of cards named Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, or Forest to their deck and sideboard. They may not add additional snowbasiclandcards (e.g. Snow-CoveredForest, etc) or Wastes basiclandcards, even in formats in which they are legal.
• Non-basiclands from the Return to Ravnica and Gatecrash expansions are allowed when opened in Dragon’s Maze boosters.
• Non-basiclands from the Khans of Tarkir expansion are allowed when opened in Fate Reforged boosters.
• Non-basiclands from the Zendikar Expeditions set are allowed when opened in Battle for Zendikar or
Oath of the Gatewatch boosters.
• Prerelease tournaments may feature additional exceptions. These will be announced as part of the
Prerelease information.
Players may ask a judge for permission to replace a card with another version of the same card.
Because it was designed specifically for multiplayer play, the use of Conspiracy boosters in sanctioned, competitive Limited-format tournaments (Sealed Deck and Booster Draft) is not permitted.
Six boosters per player are recommended for individual format Sealed Deck tournaments and 3 boosters per player for individual Booster or Team Rochester Draft tournaments. For the recommended product mix for the current block, refer to Appendix D.
If the Tournament Organizer allows players to provide their own product, that product must be pooled with the rest of the product for the tournament and randomly distributed.
If the Tournament Organizer is not providing extra landcards for use in a Limitedtournament, he or she must announce this before tournament registration. Tournament Organizers may require players to return these landcards when they leave the tournament. Players may use their own basiclandsduring tournaments.
7.3 Sideboard Use
Any drafted or opened cards not used in a player’s Limiteddeck function as his or her sideboard.
30

Before the beginning of the second or subsequent game in a match, players may change the composition of their decks by exchanging cards from their decks for cards in their sideboards. There are no restrictions on the number of cards a player may exchange this way as long as the main deck is legal afterwards. Cards do not need to be exchanged on a one-for-one basis.
Players participating in Limited tournaments that do not use decklists may freely change the composition of their decks between matches by exchanging cards from their deck for cards in their sideboard without being required to return their deck to its original composition before their next match. The Head Judge or Tournament Organizer must inform players if this option is not being used prior to the start of deckbuilding. This option is not available at Competitive or Professional Rules Enforcement Level tournaments.
7.4 Abnormal Product
Neither Wizards of the Coast nor the Tournament Organizer guarantee any specific distribution of card rarities or frequency in a particular booster pack or tournament pack. If a player receives an unconventional distribution of rarities or frequencies in a particular booster pack or tournament pack, he or she must call a judge. The final decision to replace or allow the atypical product is at the discretion of the Head Judge and the Tournament Organizer.
7.5 Sealed Deck Pool Registration
In Sealed Deck tournaments, the Head Judge may require players to perform a Sealed Deck pool registration procedure prior to deck construction:
7.6
• •
•
• •
•
Each player is distributed the appropriate number of booster packs. The boosters should be marked in a way that distinguishes they came from the Tournament Organizer for that event.
Players on one side of each table open their boosters (Player A). The player directly across (Player B) observes this. Both players will observe and verify the contents of those boosters. After this process, the opened cards are stacked face down in a single pile and placed near Player B.
Player B will now open their boosters. Player A observes. Both players will observe and verify the contents. After this process, the opened cards are stacked face down in a single pile and placed near Player A.
Player A then sorts and registers the contents of Player B's pool, and vice versa.
After registration, each player returns the registered card pool to the player who originally opened the pool.
Players build and record decks as normal.
Draft Pod Assembly
For Booster Draft and Team Rochester Draft tournaments, players assemble into random drafting circles (called pods) of roughly equal size at the direction of the Head Judge. Tournament officials then distribute identical sets of booster packs to each player.
Players within a pod may play only against other players within that pod. In Regular Rules Enforcement Level tournaments, the Tournament Organizer may elect to lift this restriction. This must be announced before the tournament starts.
Players may not communicate in any way with, or reveal hidden information to, other individuals during a draft, apart from tournament officials. This applies as soon as the draft pod pairings are posted and lasts until playershand in their decklists.
31

MTR: 7.7

Booster Draft Procedures
All players must open and draft the same type of booster at the same time. Players open their first booster pack and count the cardsface down, removing tokencards, rules cards, and any other non-game cards. Players who receive an erroneous number of cards at any time must immediately notify a judge. After picking up the booster, players should remove and keep any non-foil Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, or Forestbasiclandcards and/or any other cards that are not legal to use in the draft. Foil basiclandcards should be left in the booster and drafted with the other cards. Players choose one card from their current booster pack and then pass the remaining cardsface down to the player on their left until all cards are drafted. Once a player has removed a card from the pack and put it on top of his or her single, front face-down drafted pile, it is considered selected and may not be returned to the pack.
Players may not reveal the front face of their card selections or the contents of their current packs to other participants in the draft and must make a reasonable effort to keep that information from the sight of other players. Players are not permitted to reveal hidden information of any kind to other participants in the draft regarding their own picks or what they want others to pick. (Exception: This does not apply to double-faced cards, both faces of which may be revealed at any time during a draft.)
Players and teams may not look at their drafted cards between or during picks at Competitive and Professional Rules Enforcement Levels. At Regular Rules Enforcement Level, players are allowed to review their drafted cards between or during picks as long as they are holding no other cards at the same time. The Head Judge may choose to disallow this provided he or she announces it before the first draft. Between boosters there is a review period in which players may review their picks.
If the draft is not being timed, and two players do not wish to make a pick before the other player, the player closer to providing the other player with the pack picks first. If the players are equidistant, then the player in the lower seat number picks first.
After the first pack is drafted and the review period completed, players open the next pack and draft in the same fashion, except that the direction of drafting is reversed—it now proceeds to the right. This process is repeated, reversing the direction of drafting for each booster pack until all cards in all booster packs are drafted.
If a player is unable or unwilling to continue drafting, but wishes to remain in the tournament, he or she is suspended from drafting and must construct a deck from whatever cards he or she has drafted thus far. For the remainder of the current booster pack, a tournament official randomly makes picks instead of the suspended player.
32

MTR: 8.1

Team Names
8. TeamTournament Rules Wizards of the Coast reserves the right to disallow any teamname it deems offensive and/or obscene. Tournament officials may disallow teams from registering team names that may be considered offensive and/or obscene.
8.2 Team Composition and Identification
A valid team consists of two or three members, as appropriate to the format. A team is identified by the individual DCI membership numbers of its respective members and all teams must provide the Tournament Organizer with the full information when registering for the tournament. Individuals may be members of more than one team, though not during the same tournament. If a player drops or is disqualified from the tournament, and the remainder of the team does not have sufficient members to continue, the entire team is dropped from the tournament.
Teams must designate player positions duringtournament registration. For example, in a three-playerteamtournament, each team must designate who is player A, player B, and player C. Players retain these designations throughout the entire tournament.
When two teams are paired against each other during the course of a tournament, the team members designated as “player A” play against each other, the team members designated as “player B” play against each other, and so on.
8.3 Team Communication Rules
Teammates may communicate with each other at any time, unless they leave the play area. If they leave the play area, they may not return until the end of the match.
8.4 Unified Deck Construction Rules
TeamConstructed tournaments use Unified Deck Construction rules: With the exception of cards with the basicsupertype or cards with text that specifies otherwise, no two decks on a team may contain the same card, based on its English card title. (For example, if one player is using Naturalize in a TeamConstructedtournament, no other player on that team may use Naturalize in his or her deck.) No players may use cards that are banned in a particular format.
Unified Deck Construction rules are only applied when all members of a team have decks of the same format.
8.5 Team Rochester Draft Tournaments
Team Rochester Draft tournaments require teams of three players each. Two teams are seated at each table for the draft. Team members sit clockwise in A-B-C order around the table. (For example, in a three-person teamtournament, players sit around the table clockwise in this order: 1A, 1B, 1C, 2A, 2B, 2C.)
A team determined at random chooses either to pick first or to allow the other team to pick first. Player B of the team that picks first lays out the first pack.
The draft begins with the first player opening his or her first booster pack and laying out the entire contents of the pack face up on the table as directed by tournament officials, with the cards facing him or her. After reviewing the cards, drafting proceeds with each player selecting a single card in turn. Once a player has selected a card and placed it with his or her other drafted cards, he or she may not select a different card. If a player fails to select a card in the time given, a tournament official selects for that player the “oldest” card still remaining from the booster pack (the card on the table the longest).
33

MTR: 9.1

Match Structure
9. Two-Headed Giant Tournament Rules Two-Headed Giant matches consist of one game. All players from the two teams play in the same game.
Drawn games (games without a winner) do not count toward the one game. As long as match time allows, the match continues until a team has won a game.
9.2 Communication Rules
Teammates may communicate with each other at any time.
9.3 Play-Draw Rule
A team determined at random chooses either to play first or to play second. The choice must be made before either player on that team looks at his or her hand. If either player on that team looks at his or her hand before their choice is made, that team plays first. The team who plays first skips the draw step of their first turn.
9.4 Pregame Procedure
1. Players decide which teammate will be the primary player and which teammate will be the secondary player. Players should be seated with the primary player to the right of his or her teammate. Players can choose a different primary and secondary player before each match.
2. Playersshuffle their decks.
3. Players present their decks to their opponents for additional shuffling.
4. Each player draws seven cards. Optionally, these cards may be dealt face down on the table.
5. Each player, in turn order, decides whether to mulligan. (Rules on Two-Headed Giant mulligans can
be found in the Magic Comprehensive Rules, rule 103.4c)
Once players have completed their mulligans, the game can begin.
9.5 Two-Headed Giant Constructed Rules
Two-Headed Giant Constructed tournaments use Unified Deck Construction rules (see section 8.4).
In addition to cards banned in particular formats, the following card is banned in ALL Two-Headed Giant Constructed tournaments (Vintage, Legacy, Modern, and BlockConstructed):
• Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
Sideboards are not allowed in constructed Two-Headed Giant tournaments.
9.6 Two-Headed Giant Limited Rules
All the rules for Limited Tournaments (Section 7) apply, except as described below.
Eight boosters per team are recommended for Two-Headed Giant Sealed Deck tournaments and six boosters per team for Two-Headed Giant Booster Draft tournaments. For the recommended product mix for the current block, refer to Appendix D.
Cards not used in a team’s starting decks are considered a shared sideboard by the two players that both players can access.
35

CR: Introduction

These rules are effective as of July 22, 2016.

Introduction

This document is designed for people who’ve moved beyond the basics of the Magic: The Gathering® game. If you’re a beginning Magic™ player, you’ll probably find these rules intimidating. They’re intended to be the ultimate authority for the game, and you won’t usually need to refer to them except in specific cases or during competitive games.

For casual play and most ordinary situations, you’ll find what you need in the Magic: The Gathering basic rules. You can download a copy of the basic rules PDF from the Wizards of the Coast® Magic rules website at Magic.Wizards.com/Rules. If you’re sure this is where you want to be, keep reading.

This document includes a series of numbered rules followed by a glossary. Many of the numbered rules are divided into subrules, and each separate rule and subrule of the game has its own number. (Note that subrules skip the letters “l” and “o” due to potential confusion with the numbers “1” and “0”; subrule 704.5k is followed by 704.5m, then 704.5n, then 704.5p, for example.)

We at Wizards of the Coast recognize that no matter how detailed the rules, situations will arise in which the interaction of specific cards requires a precise answer. If you have questions, you can get the answers from us at Wizards.com/CustomerService. Additional contact information is on the last page of these rules.

In response to play issues and to keep these rules as current as possible, changes may have been made to this document since its publication. You can download the most recent version from the Magic rules website at Magic.Wizards.com/Rules.

CR: Section 1: Game Concepts

CR: 100: General

CR: 100.1

These Magic rules apply to any Magic game with two or more players, including two-player games and multiplayer games.

CR: 100.2b

In limitedplay (a way of playing in which each player gets the same quantity of unopened Magic product such as booster packs and creates his or her own deck using only this product and basiclandcards), each deck must contain at least forty cards. A limiteddeck may contain as many duplicates of a card as are included with the product.

CR: 100.5

CR: 100.6

Most Magic tournaments (organized play activities where players compete against other players to win prizes) have additional rules covered in the Magic: The Gathering Tournament Rules (found at WPN.Wizards.com/en/resources/rules-documents). These rules may limit the use of some cards, including barring all cards from some older sets.

CR: 100.6a

Tournaments usually consist of a series of matches. A two-playermatch usually involves playing until one player has won two games. A multiplayer match usually consists of only one game.

CR: 100.6b

Players can use the Magic Store & Event Locator at Wizards.com/Locator to find tournaments in their area.

CR: 101: The Magic Golden Rules

CR: 101.1

Whenever a card’s text directly contradicts these rules, the card takes precedence. The card overrides only the rule that applies to that specific situation. The only exception is that a player can concede the game at any time (see rule 104.3a).

CR: 101.2

When a rule or effect allows or directs something to happen, and another effect states that it can’t happen, the “can’t” effect takes precedence.

CR: 101.2a

CR: 101.3

Any part of an instruction that’s impossible to perform is ignored. (In many cases the card will specify consequences for this; if it doesn’t, there’s no effect.)

CR: 101.4

If multiple players would make choices and/or take actions at the same time, the active player (the player whose turn it is) makes any choices required, then the next player in turn order (usually the player seated to the active player’s left) makes any choices required, followed by the remaining nonactive players in turn order. Then the actions happen simultaneously. This rule is often referred to as the “Active Player, Nonactive Player (APNAP) order” rule.

CR: 101.4b

A player knows the choices made by the previous players when he or she makes his or her choice, except as specified in 101.4a.

CR: 101.4c

If a player would make more than one choice at the same time, the player makes the choices in the order written, or in the order he or she chooses if the choices aren’t ordered.

CR: 101.4d

If a choice made by a nonactive player causes the active player, or a different nonactive player earlier in the turn order, to have to make a choice, APNAP order is restarted for all outstanding choices.

CR: 102.3

CR: 103: Starting the Game

CR: 103.1

At the start of a game, each player shuffles his or her deck so that the cards are in a random order. Each player may then shuffle or cut his or her opponents’ decks. The players’ decks become their libraries.

CR: 103.1c

CR: 103.2

After the decks have been shuffled, the players determine which one of them will choose who takes the first turn. In the first game of a match (including a single-game match), the players may use any mutually agreeable method (flipping a coin, rolling dice, etc.) to do so. In a match of several games, the loser of the previous game chooses who takes the first turn. If the previous game was a draw, the player who made the choice in that game makes the choice in this game. The player chosen to take the first turn is the starting player. The game’s default turn order begins with the starting player and proceeds clockwise.

CR: 103.4a

CR: 103.4b

If an effect allows a player to perform an action “any time [that player] could mulligan,” the player may perform that action at a time he or she would declare whether or not he or she will take a mulligan. This need not be in the first round of mulligans. Other players may have already made their mulligan declarations by the time the player has the option to perform this action. If the player performs the action, he or she then declares whether or not he or she will take a mulligan.

CR: 104: Ending the Game

CR: 104.1

CR: 104.2

CR: 104.2a

A player still in the game wins the game if all of that player’s opponents have left the game. This happens immediately and overrides all effects that would prevent that player from winning the game.

CR: 104.2b

An effect may state that a player wins the game. (In multiplayer games, this may not cause the game to end; see rule 104.3h.)

CR: 104.2c

In a multiplayer game between teams, a team with at least one player still in the game wins the game if all other teams have left the game. Each player on the winning team wins the game, even if one or more of those players had previously lost that game.

CR: 104.3b

CR: 104.3c

If a player is required to draw more cards than are left in his or her library, he or she draws the remaining cards, and then loses the game the next time a player would receive priority. (This is a state-based action. See rule 704.)

CR: 104.3d

If a player has ten or more poison counters, he or she loses the game the next time a player would receive priority. (This is a state-based action. See rule 704.)

CR: 104.3k

CR: 104.4

CR: 104.4a

If all the players remaining in a game lose simultaneously, the game is a draw.

CR: 104.4b

If a game that’s not using the limited range of influenceoption (including a two-player game) somehow enters a “loop” of mandatory actions, repeating a sequence of events with no way to stop, the game is a draw. Loops that contain an optional action don’t result in a draw.

CR: 104.4i

CR: 104.5

If a player loses the game, he or she leaves the game. If the game is a draw for a player, he or she leaves the game. The multiplayer rules handle what happens when a player leaves the game; see rule 800.4.

CR: 104.6

One card (Karn Liberated) restarts the game. All players still in the game when it restarts then immediately begin a new game. See rule 716, “Restarting the Game.”

CR: 105: Colors

CR: 105.1

There are five colors in the Magic game: white, blue, black, red, and green.

CR: 107.3h

Normally, all instances of X on an object have the same value at any given time. If an object gains an ability, the value of X within that ability is the value defined by that ability, or 0 if that ability doesn’t define a value of X.

CR: 107.3i

Some objects use the letter Y in addition to the letter X. Y follows the same rules as X.

CR: 107.4a

There are five primary colored mana symbols: is white, blue, black, red, and green. These symbols are used to represent colored mana, and also to represent colored mana in costs. Colored mana in costs can be paid only with the appropriate color of mana. See rule 202, “Mana Cost and Color.”

CR: 107.4b

Numerical symbols (such as ) and variable symbols (such as ) represent generic mana in costs. Generic mana in costs can be paid with any type of mana. For more information about , see rule 107.3.

CR: 107.4c

CR: 107.4d

The symbol represents zero mana and is used as a placeholder for a cost that can be paid with no resources. (See rule 117.5.)

CR: 107.4e

Hybrid mana symbols are also colored mana symbols. Each one represents a cost that can be paid in one of two ways, as represented by the two halves of the symbol. A hybrid symbol such as can be paid with either white or blue mana, and a monocolored hybrid symbol such as can be paid with either one black mana or two mana of any type. A hybrid mana symbol is all of its component colors.

Example: can be paid by spending , , or .

CR: 107.4f

Phyrexian mana symbols are colored mana symbols: is white, is blue, is black, is red, and is green. A Phyrexian mana symbol represents a cost that can be paid either with one mana of its color or by paying 2 life.

Example: can be paid by spending , by spending and paying 2 life, or by paying 4 life.

CR: 107.4g

In rules text, the Phyrexian symbol with no colored background means any of the five Phyrexian mana symbols.

CR: 107.10

A type icon appears in the upper left corner of each card from the Future Sight® set printed with an alternate “timeshifted” frame. If the card has a single card type, this icon indicates what it is: claw marks for creature, a flame for sorcery, a lightning bolt for instant, a sunrise for enchantment, a chalice for artifact, and a pair of mountain peaks for land. If the card has multiple card types, that’s indicated by a black and white cross. This icon has no effect on game play.

CR: 107.13

CR: 108: Cards

CR: 108.1

Use the Oracle™ card reference when determining a card’s wording. A card’s Oracle text can be found using the Gatherer card database at Gatherer.Wizards.com.

CR: 108.2

When a rule or text on a card refers to a “card,” it means only a Magic card. Most Magic games use only traditional Magic cards, which measure approximately 2.5 inches (6.3 cm) by 3.5 inches (8.8 cm). Certain formats also use nontraditional Magic cards, oversized cards that may have different backs. Tokens aren’t considered cards—even a card that represents a token isn’t considered a card for rules purposes.

CR: 112.6m

An ability that modifies the rules for deck construction functions before the game begins. Such an ability modifies not just the Comprehensive Rules, but also the Magic: The Gathering Tournament Rules and any other documents that set the deck construction rules for a specific format. However, such an ability can’t affect the format legality of a card, including whether it’s banned or restricted. The current Magic: The Gathering Tournament Rules can be found at WPN.Wizards.com/en/resources/rules-documents.

CR: 112.7a

Once activated or triggered, an ability exists on the stack independently of its source. Destruction or removal of the source after that time won’t affect the ability. Note that some abilities cause a source to do something (for example, “Prodigal Pyromancer deals 1 damage to targetcreature or player”) rather than the ability doing anything directly. In these cases, any activated or triggered ability that references information about the source because the effect needs to be divided checks that information when the ability is put onto the stack. Otherwise, it will check that information when it resolves. In both instances, if the source is no longer in the zone it’s expected to be in at that time, its last known information is used. The source can still perform the action even though it no longer exists.

CR: 114.6c

If an effect allows a player to “change any targets” of a spell or ability, the process described in rule 114.6a is followed, except that any number of those targets may be changed (rather than all of them or none of them).

CR: 114.8

Some objects check what another spell or ability is targeting. Depending on the wording, these may check the current state of the targets, the state of the targets at the time they were selected, or both.

CR: 117: Costs

CR: 117.1

A cost is an action or payment necessary to take another action or to stop another action from taking place. To pay a cost, a player carries out the instructions specified by the spell, ability, or effect that contains that cost.

CR: 117.4

CR: 117.5

Some costs are represented by , or are reduced to . The action necessary for a player to pay such a cost is the player’s acknowledgment that he or she is paying it. Even though such a cost requires no resources, it’s not automatically paid.

CR: 120.6b

CR: 120.6c

Some effects perform additional actions on a card after it’s drawn. If the draw is replaced, the additional action is not performed on any cards that are drawn as a result of that replacement effect or any subsequent replacement effects.

CR: 120.7

Some replacement effects and prevention effects result in one or more card draws. In such a case, if there are any parts of the original event that haven’t been replaced, those parts occur first, then the card draws happen one at a time.

CR: 121.1c

If a player has ten or more poison counters, he or she loses the game as a state-based action. See rule 704. A player is “poisoned” if he or she has one or more poison counters. (See rule 810 for additional rules for Two-Headed Giant games.)

CR: 201.5

If an ability of an object uses a phrase such as “this [something]” to identify an object, where [something] is a characteristic, it is referring to that particular object, even if it isn’t the appropriate characteristic at the time.

CR: 202: Mana Cost and Color

CR: 202.1

A card’s mana cost is indicated by mana symbols near the top of the card. (See rule 107.4.) On most cards, these symbols are printed in the upper right corner. Some cards from the Future Sight set have alternate frames in which the mana symbols appear to the left of the illustration.

CR: 205.3: Subtypes

CR: 205.3a

CR: 205.3b

Subtypes of each card type except plane are always single words and are listed after a long dash. Each word after the dash is a separate subtype; such objects may have multiple types. Subtypes of planes are also listed after a long dash, but may be multiple words; all words after the dash are, collectively, a single subtype.

Example: When choosing a creature type, “Merfolk” or “Wizard” is acceptable, but “Merfolk Wizard” is not. Words like “artifact,” “opponent,” “Swamp,” or “truck” can’t be chosen because they aren’t creature types.

CR: 205.3f

Many cards were printed with subtypes that are now obsolete. Many cards have retroactively received subtypes. Use the Oraclecard reference to determine what a card’s subtypes are. (See rule 108.1.)

CR: 206: Expansion Symbol

CR: 206.1

CR: 206.2

The color of the expansion symbol indicates the rarity of the card within its set. A red-orange symbol indicates the card is mythic rare. A gold symbol indicates the card is rare. A silver symbol indicates the card is uncommon. A black or white symbol indicates the card is common or is a basicland. A purple symbol signifies a special rarity; to date, only the Time Spiral® “timeshifted” cards, which were rarer than that set’s rare cards, have had purple expansion symbols. (Prior to the Exodus™ set, all expansion symbols were black, regardless of rarity. Also, prior to the Sixth Edition core set, with the exception of the Simplified Chinese Fifth Edition core set, Magic core sets didn’t have expansion symbols at all.)

CR: 207: Text Box

CR: 207.1

CR: 207.2

The text box may also contain italicized text that has no game function.

CR: 207.2a

Reminder text is italicized text within parentheses that summarizes a rule that applies to that card. It usually appears on the same line as the ability it’s relevant to, but it may appear on its own line if it applies to an aspect of the card other than an ability.

CR: 207.2b

Flavor text is italicized text that, like the illustration, adds artistic appeal to the game. It appears below the rules text.

CR: 207.2c

An ability word appears in italics at the beginning of some abilities. Ability words are similar to keywords in that they tie together cards that have similar functionality, but they have no special rules meaning and no individual entries in the Comprehensive Rules. The ability words are battalion, bloodrush, channel, chroma, cohort, constellation, converge, delirium, domain, fateful hour, ferocious, formidable, grandeur, hellbent, heroic, imprint, inspired, join forces, kinship, landfall, lieutenant, metalcraft, morbid, parley, radiance, raid, rally, spell mastery, strive, sweep, tempting offer, threshold, and will of the council.

CR: 207.3

Some cards have decorative icons in the background of their text boxes. For example, a guild icon appears in the text box of many Ravnica: City of Guilds® and Return to Ravnica™ blockcards, and a faction icon appears in the text box of most Scars of Mirrodin™ blockcards. Similarly, many promotional cards include decorative icons. These icons have no effect on game play.

CR: 302.4a

CR: 302.4b

CR: 302.4c

To determine a creature’s power and toughness, start with the numbers printed in its lower right corner, then apply any applicable continuous effects. (See rule 613, “Interaction of Continuous Effects.”)

CR: 304.2

CR: 304.3

Instant subtypes are always a single word and are listed after a long dash: “Instant — Arcane.” Each word after the dash is a separate subtype. The set of instant subtypes is the same as the set of sorcery subtypes; these subtypes are called spell types. Instants may have multiple subtypes. See rule 205.3k for the complete list of spell types.

CR: 305.2b

A player can’t play a land, for any reason, if the number of lands the player can play this turn is equal to or less than the number of lands he or she has already played this turn. Ignore any part of an effect that instructs a player to do so.

CR: 305.3

A player can’t play a land, for any reason, if it isn’t his or her turn. Ignore any part of an effect that instructs a player to do so.

CR: 305.4

CR: 305.5

Land subtypes are always a single word and are listed after a long dash. Land subtypes are also called land types. Lands may have multiple subtypes. See rule 205.3i for the complete list of land types.

CR: 307.2

CR: 307.3

Sorcery subtypes are always a single word and are listed after a long dash: “Sorcery — Arcane.” Each word after the dash is a separate subtype. The set of sorcery subtypes is the same as the set of instant subtypes; these subtypes are called spell types. Sorceries may have multiple subtypes. See rule 205.3k for the complete list of spell types.

CR: 309.3

Plane subtypes are listed after a long dash, and may be multiple words: “Plane — Serra’s Realm.” All words after the dash are, collectively, a single subtype. Planar subtypes are called planar types. A plane can have only one subtype. See rule 205.3n for the complete list of planar types.

CR: 309.6

CR: 309.7

Each planecard has a triggered ability that triggers “Whenever you roll .” These are called “chaos abilities.” Each one is indicated by a to its left, though the symbol itself has no special rules meaning.

CR: 402.3

A player may arrange his or her hand in any convenient fashion and look at it as much as he or she wishes. A player can’t look at the cards in another player’s hand but may count those cards at any time.

CR: 404.2

Each graveyard is kept in a single face-up pile. A player can examine the cards in any graveyard at any time but normally can’t change their order. Additional rules applying to sanctioned tournaments may allow a player to change the order of cards in his or her graveyard.

CR: 405.6d

Special actions don’t use the stack; they happen immediately. See rule 115, “Special Actions.”

CR: 405.6e

Turn-based actions don’t use the stack; they happen automatically when certain steps or phases begin. They’re dealt with before a player would receive priority (see rule 116.3a). Turn-based actions also happen automatically when each step and phase ends; no player receives priority afterward. See rule 703.

CR: 405.6f

State-based actions don’t use the stack; they happen automatically when certain conditions are met. See rule 704. They are dealt with before a player would receive priority. See rule 116.5.

CR: 406.4

Face-down cards in exile should be kept in separate piles based on when they were exiled and how they were exiled. If a player is instructed to choose an exiled card, the player may choose a specific face-down card only if the player is allowed to look at that card. Otherwise, he or she may choose a pile of face-down exiled cards, and then a card is chosen at random from within that pile. If choosing such a card is part of casting a spell or activating an ability, the chosen card isn’t revealed until after that cost is fully paid. (See rule 601.2i.)

CR: 406.5

Exiled cards that might return to the battlefield or any other zone should be kept in separate piles to keep track of their respective ways of returning. Exiled cards that may have an impact on the game due to their own abilities (such as cards with haunt) or the abilities of the cards that exiled them should likewise be kept in separate piles.

CR: 407: Ante

CR: 407.1

Earlier versions of the Magic rules included an ante rule as a way of playing “for keeps.” Playing Magic games for ante is now considered an optional variation on the game, and it’s allowed only where it’s not forbidden by law or by other rules. Playing for ante is strictly forbidden under the Magic: The Gathering Tournament Rules (WPN.Wizards.com/en/resources/rules-documents).

CR: Section 5: Turn Structure

CR: 500: General

CR: 500.1

A turn consists of five phases, in this order: beginning, precombat main, combat, postcombat main, and ending. Each of these phases takes place every turn, even if nothing happens during the phase. The beginning, combat, and ending phases are further broken down into steps, which proceed in order.

CR: 500.6

CR: 500.7

Some effects can give a player extra turns. They do this by adding the turns directly after the specified turn. If a player is given multiple extra turns, the extra turns are added one at a time. If multiple players are given extra turns, the extra turns are added one at a time, in APNAP order (see rule 101.4). The most recently created turn will be taken first.

CR: 500.8

Some effects can add phases to a turn. They do this by adding the phases directly after the specified phase. If multiple extra phases are created after the same phase, the most recently created phase will occur first.

CR: 500.9

Some effects can add steps to a phase. They do this by adding the steps directly after a specified step or directly before a specified step. If multiple extra steps are created after the same step, the most recently created step will occur first.

CR: 506.6a

A spell that states it may be cast “only before (or after) attackers are declared” is referring to the turn-based action of declaring attackers. It may be cast only before (or after) the declare attackers step begins, regardless of whether any attackers are actually declared. (See rule 508.)

CR: 506.6b

A spell that states it may be cast “only before (or after) blockers are declared” is referring to the turn-based action of declaring blockers. It may be cast only before (or after) the declare blockers step begins, regardless of whether any blockers are actually declared. (See rule 509.)

CR: 506.6d

Some spells state that they may be cast “only before (or after) [a particular point in the combat phase],” but don’t meet the additional criteria described in rule 506.6c. If a turn has multiple combat phases, such spells may be cast that turn only before (or after) the stated point of the first combat phase.

CR: 506.6g

Rules 506.6 and 506.6a–f apply to abilities that state that they may be activated only at certain times with respect to combat just as they apply to spells that state that they may be cast only at certain times with respect to combat.

CR: 507.3

CR: 508: Declare Attackers Step

CR: 508.1

First, the active player declares attackers. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack. To declare attackers, the active player follows the steps below, in order. If at any point during the declaration of attackers, the active player is unable to comply with any of the steps listed below, the declaration is illegal; the game returns to the moment before the declaration (see rule 719, “Handling Illegal Actions”).

CR: 508.1c

The active player checks each creature he or she controls to see whether it’s affected by any restrictions (effects that say a creature can’t attack, or that it can’t attackunless some condition is met). If any restrictions are being disobeyed, the declaration of attackers is illegal.

CR: 508.1d

The active player checks each creature he or she controls to see whether it’s affected by any requirements (effects that say a creature must attack, or that it must attack if some condition is met). If the number of requirements that are being obeyed is fewer than the maximum possible number of requirements that could be obeyed without disobeying any restrictions, the declaration of attackers is illegal. If a creature can’t attackunless a player pays a cost, that player is not required to pay that cost, even if attacking with that creature would increase the number of requirements being obeyed.

CR: 508.6

CR: 509: Declare Blockers Step

CR: 509.1

First, the defending player declares blockers. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack. To declare blockers, the defending player follows the steps below, in order. If at any point during the declaration of blockers, the defending player is unable to comply with any of the steps listed below, the declaration is illegal; the game returns to the moment before the declaration (see rule 719, “Handling Illegal Actions”).

CR: 509.1b

The defending player checks each creature he or she controls to see whether it’s affected by any restrictions (effects that say a creature can’t block, or that it can’t blockunless some condition is met). If any restrictions are being disobeyed, the declaration of blockers is illegal.

CR: 509.1c

The defending player checks each creature he or she controls to see whether it’s affected by any requirements (effects that say a creature must block, or that it must block if some condition is met). If the number of requirements that are being obeyed is fewer than the maximum possible number of requirements that could be obeyed without disobeying any restrictions, the declaration of blockers is illegal. If a creature can’t blockunless a player pays a cost, that player is not required to pay that cost, even if blocking with that creature would increase the number of requirements being obeyed.

CR: 514.2

Second, the following actions happen simultaneously: all damage marked on permanents (including phased-out permanents) is removed and all “until end of turn” and “this turn” effects end. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack.

CR: Section 6: Spells, Abilities, and Effects

CR: 600: General

CR: 601: Casting Spells

CR: 601.1

Previously, the action of casting a spell, or casting a card as a spell, was referred to on cards as “playing” that spell or that card. Cards that were printed with that text have received errata in the Oraclecard reference so they now refer to “casting” that spell or that card.

CR: 601.1a

CR: 601.2

To cast a spell is to take it from where it is (usually the hand), put it on the stack, and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect. Casting a spell includes proposal of the spell (rules 601.2a–d) and determination and payment of costs (rules 601.2f–h). To cast a spell, a player follows the steps listed below, in order. A player must be legally allowed to cast the spell to begin this process (see rule 601.3), ignoring any effect that would prohibit that spell from being cast based on information determined during that spell’s proposal. (Such effects are considered during the check detailed in rule 601.2e.) If, at any point during the casting of a spell, a player is unable to comply with any of the steps listed below, the casting of the spell is illegal; the game returns to the moment before the casting of that spell was proposed (see rule 719, “Handling Illegal Actions”).

CR: 601.2e

The game checks to see if the proposed spell can legally be cast. If the proposed spell is illegal, the game returns to the moment before the casting of that spell was proposed (see rule 719, “Handling Illegal Actions”).

CR: 601.3

A player can’t begin to cast a spellunless a rule or effect allows that player to cast it. If that player is no longer allowed to cast that spell after completing its proposal, the casting of the spell is illegal and the game returns to the moment before the casting of that spell was proposed (see rule 719, “Handling Illegal Actions”).

CR: 603.4

A triggered ability may read “When/Whenever/At [trigger event], if [condition], [effect].” When the trigger event occurs, the ability checks whether the stated condition is true. The ability triggers only if it is; otherwise it does nothing. If the ability triggers, it checks the stated condition again as it resolves. If the condition isn’t true at that time, the ability is removed from the stack and does nothing. Note that this mirrors the check for legal targets. This rule is referred to as the “intervening ‘if’ clause” rule. (The word “if” has only its normal English meaning anywhere else in the text of a card; this rule only applies to an “if” that immediately follows a trigger condition.)

CR: 605.3c

CR: 605.4: Triggered mana abilities follow all the rules for other triggered abilities (see rule 603, “Handling Triggered Abilities”), with the following exception:

CR: 605.4a

A triggered mana ability doesn’t go on the stack, so it can’t be targeted, countered, or otherwise responded to. Rather, it resolves immediately after the mana ability that triggered it, without waiting for priority.

CR: 606.5

CR: 607: Linked Abilities

CR: 607.1

An object may have two abilities printed on it such that one of them causes actions to be taken or objects or players to be affected and the other one directly refers to those actions, objects, or players. If so, these two abilities are linked: the second refers only to actions that were taken or objects or players that were affected by the first, and not by any other ability.

CR: 607.2d

If an object has an ability printed on it that causes a player to “choose a [value]” or “name a card” and an ability printed on it that refers to “the chosen [value],” “the last chosen [value],” or “the named card,” those abilities are linked. The second ability refers only to a choice made as a result of the first ability.

CR: 607.2e

If an object has an ability printed on it that causes a player to choose from between two or more words that otherwise have no rules meaning and an ability printed on it that refers to a choice involving one or more of those words, those abilities are linked. The second can refer only to a choice made as a result of the first ability.

CR: 607.2k

CR: 607.3

If, within a pair of linked abilities, one ability refers to a single object as “the exiled card,” “a card exiled with [this card],” or a similar phrase, and the other ability has exiled multiple cards (usually because it was copied), the ability refers to each of the exiled cards. If that ability asks for any information about the exiled card, such as a characteristic or converted mana cost, it gets multiple answers. If these answers are used to determine the value of a variable, the sum of the answers is used. If that ability performs any actions on the exiled card, it performs that action on each exiled card.

CR: 608: Resolving Spells and Abilities

CR: 608.1

CR: 608.2

If the object that’s resolving is an instantspell, a sorceryspell, or an ability, its resolution may involve several steps. The steps described in rules 608.2a and 608.2b are followed first. The steps described in rules 608.2c–j are then followed as appropriate, in no specific order. The step described in rule 608.2k is followed last.

CR: 608.2e

Some spells and abilities have multiple steps or actions, denoted by separate sentences or clauses, that involve multiple players. In these cases, the choices for the first action are made in APNAP order, and then the first action is processed simultaneously. Then the choices for the second action are made in APNAP order, and then that action is processed simultaneously, and so on. See rule 101.4.

CR: 609.4

Some effects state that a player may do something “as though” some condition were true or a creature can do something “as though” some condition were true. This applies only to the stated effect. For purposes of that effect, treat the game exactly as if the stated condition were true. For all other purposes, treat the game normally.

CR: 609.7b

Some effects from resolved spells and abilitiesprevent or replace damage from sources with certain properties, such as a creature or a source of a particular color. When the source would dealdamage, the “shield” rechecks the source’s properties. If the properties no longer match, the damage isn’t prevented or replaced. If for any reason the shield prevents no damage or replaces no damage, the shield isn’t used up.

CR: 611.2

CR: 611.2a

A continuous effect generated by the resolution of a spell or ability lasts as long as stated by the spell or ability creating it (such as “until end of turn”). If no duration is stated, it lasts until the end of the game.

CR: 611.2b

Some continuous effects generated by the resolution of a spell or ability have durations worded “for as long as . . . .” If the “for as long as” duration never starts, or it ends before the moment the effect would first be applied, the effect does nothing. It doesn’t start and immediately stop again, and it doesn’t last forever.

CR: 613.5

If an effect should be applied in different layers and/or sublayers, the parts of the effect each apply in their appropriate ones. If an effect starts to apply in one layer and/or sublayer, it will continue to be applied to the same set of objects in each other applicable layer and/or sublayer, even if the ability generating the effect is removedduring this process.

CR: 613.6

Within a layer or sublayer, determining which order effects are applied in is usually done using a timestamp system. An effect with an earlier timestamp is applied before an effect with a later timestamp.

CR: 613.6i

CR: 613.6j

If two or more objects would receive a timestamp simultaneously, such as by entering a zone simultaneously or becoming attached simultaneously, the active player determines their relative timestamp order at that time.

CR: 613.7

Within a layer or sublayer, determining which order effects are applied in is sometimes done using a dependency system. If a dependency exists, it will override the timestamp system.

CR: 613.7c

After each effect is applied, the order of remaining effects is reevaluated and may change if an effect that has not yet been applied becomes dependent on or independent of one or more other effects that have not yet been applied.

CR: 613.8

Example: Two effects are affecting the same creature: one from an Aura that says “Enchanted creature gains flying” and one from an Aura that says “Enchanted creature loses flying.” Neither of these depends on the other, since nothing changes what they affect or what they’re doing to it. Applying them in timestamp order means the one that was generated last “wins.” The same process would be followed, and the same result reached, if either of the effects had a duration (such as “Targetcreature loses flying until end of turn”) or came from a non-Aura source (such as “All creatures lose flying”).

CR: 614: Replacement Effects

CR: 614.1

Some continuous effects are replacement effects. Like prevention effects (see rule 615), replacement effects apply continuously as events happen—they aren’t locked in ahead of time. Such effects watch for a particular event that would happen and completely or partially replace that event with a different event. They act like “shields” around whatever they’re affecting.

CR: 614.6

If an event is replaced, it never happens. A modified event occurs instead, which may in turn triggerabilities. Note that the modified event may contain instructions that can’t be carried out, in which case the impossible instruction is simply ignored.

CR: 614.10a

Anything scheduled for a skipped step, phase, or turn won’t happen. Anything scheduled for the “next” occurrence of something waits for the first occurrence that isn’t skipped. If two effects each cause a player to skip his or her next occurrence, that player must skip the next two; one effect will be satisfied in skipping the first occurrence, while the other will remain until another occurrence can be skipped.

CR: 615: Prevention Effects

CR: 615.1

Some continuous effects are prevention effects. Like replacement effects (see rule 614), prevention effects apply continuously as events happen—they aren’t locked in ahead of time. Such effects watch for a damageevent that would happen and completely or partially prevent the damage that would be dealt. They act like “shields” around whatever they’re affecting.

CR: 615.5

Some prevention effects also include an additional effect, which may refer to the amount of damage that was prevented. The prevention takes place at the time the original event would have happened; the rest of the effect takes place immediately afterward.

CR: 615.6

If damage that would be dealt is prevented, it never happens. A modified event may occur instead, which may in turn triggerabilities. Note that the modified event may contain instructions that can’t be carried out, in which case the impossible instruction is simply ignored.

CR: 615.8

Some prevention effects generated by the resolution of a spell or ability refer to the next time a specific source would dealdamage. These effectsprevent the next instance of damage from that source, regardless of how much damage that is. Once an instance of damage from that source has been prevented, any subsequent instances of damage that would be dealt by that source are dealt normally.

CR: 615.9

Some prevention effects generated by static abilities refer to a specific amount of damage—for example, “If a source would dealdamage to you, prevent 1 of that damage.” Such an effect prevents only the indicated amount of damage in any applicable damageevent at any given time. It will apply separately to damage from other applicable events that would happen at the same time, or at a different time.

CR: 615.11

Some effects state that damage “can’t be prevented.” If unpreventable damage would be dealt, any applicable prevention effects are still applied to it. Those effects won’t prevent any damage, but any additional effects they have will take place. Existing damage prevention shields won’t be reduced by damage that can’t be prevented.

CR: Section 7: Additional Rules

CR: 700: General

CR: 700.1

Anything that happens in a game is an event. Multiple events may take place during the resolution of a spell or ability. The text of triggered abilities and replacement effects defines the event they’re looking for. One “happening” may be treated as a single event by one ability and as multiple events by another.

CR: 700.2

A spell or ability is modal if it has two or more options in a bulleted list preceded by instructions for a player to choose a number of those options, such as “Choose one —.” Each of those options is a mode. Modalcards printed prior to the Khans of Tarkir set didn’t use bulleted lists for the modes; these cards have received errata in the Oraclecard reference so the modes do appear in a bulleted list.

CR: 701: Keyword Actions

CR: 701.1

Most actions described in a card’s rules text use the standard English definitions of the verbs within, but some specialized verbs are used whose meanings may not be clear. These “keywords” are game terms; sometimes reminder text summarizes their meanings.

CR: 701.7c

If a card is discarded, but an effect causes it to be put into a hidden zoneinstead of into its owner’s graveyard without being revealed, all values of that card’s characteristics are considered to be undefined. If a card is discarded this way to pay a cost that specifies a characteristic about the discarded card, that cost payment is illegal; the game returns to the moment before the cost was paid (see rule 719, “Handling Illegal Actions”).

CR: 701.11c

CR: 701.11d

Previously, the action of casting a spell, or casting a card as a spell, was referred to on cards as “playing” that spell or that card. Cards that were printed with that text have received errata in the Oraclecard reference so they now refer to “casting” that spell or that card.

CR: 701.25d

CR: 701.25e

Some triggered abilitiestrigger when an object “transforms into” an object with a specified characteristic. Such an ability triggers if the object transforms and has the specified characteristic immediately after it transforms.

CR: 701.34c

Example: A player owns and controls Midnight Scavengers and a token that’s a copy of Graf Rats. At the beginning of combat, both are exiled but can’t be melded. Midnight Scavengers remains exiled and the exiled token ceases to exist.

CR: 702.16k

CR: 702.16m

Some Auras both give the enchanted creatureprotection and say “this effect doesn’t remove” either that specific Aura or all Auras. This means that the specified Auras can legally enchant that creature and aren’t put into their owners’ graveyards as a state-based action. If the creature has other instances of protection from the same quality, those instances affect Auras as normal.